Nine Crimes, Nine Kings
by Tobi wants a cookie
Summary: Nine Crimes, Nine Kings is a real life Naruto fanfic in which each of the nine jinchuurikis is the king of different type of crime. No one can touch the Nine of them, thanks to one Naruto Uzumaki and his connections. However, things begin to go wrong when a mysterious figure plots to take over all the Nine Kings. As a war begins and blood is spilt, the kings are forced to fight!
1. Promises

Welcome ladies and gentlemen, to Nine Crime, Nine Kings. For those of you who are fans of my other work I'm glad to have you back, but keep in mind that I won't be posting every day like before. It'll be more around once a week, but the chapters will be longer too. This is my first real life Naruto fanfic and I must say I'm very excited for it. It'll be heavily influenced by the work of the Coen Brothers, Quentin Tarantino, and Martin Scorsese. I've always been a fan of crime television and films such as Breaking Bad and Pulp Fiction, so this is a real joy for me to write. Shall we begin?

* * *

A young blonde man, just over 24 years old, slowly opened his eyes and sat up in his bed. He looked around at his relatively empty room. The walls were blank and bare and dresser was almost empty. Only his sheets were unique, which were a bright orange. He just loved the color, even if it was strange.

The young man walked over a picked up the only thing that was on the dresser, a small statue. It was a stone fox with nine tails flowing behind it and was sitting on a circle of wood with a small inscription on the bottom, 'For the man who assembled the Nine.'

He smiled at the statue and put it back down, then he grabbed a shirt from the ground and put it over his well built body, as all he was wearing was a pair of shorts. Walking out of his bedroom and into his living room, he heard one of two cellphones on he kept on the desk ringing. The prepaid one, which he only bought so that he it couldn't be traced.

He walked over and answered the phone, "Hello?"

A male voice responded, "_Naruto?"_

The blonde sighed, "That would be the only person who's ever answered this phone, yes."

The man on the other end responded, "_Alright, fair point. It's Kakashi. Just wanted to give you a little heads up that we're gonna have some guys coming to take you in today."_

Naruto got a twinge of irritation on his face, "Do I at least have time to grab myself some breakfast?"

The things Naruto said never failed to make Kakashi laugh, "_Yeah, you have like half an hour. I'll see you when you get to the precinct."_

"Alright, see you then," Naruto replied and hung up the phone. At least he knew he wouldn't have to go on an empty stomach.

* * *

Yamato had known what he wanted to be from a young age. He'd grown up never knowing who his parents were and being bounced from foster home to foster home. Not all of them were the nicest places in the world, but the people who'd been there to help were the police. If the bottles started being thrown or the fists start to fly, he could always call them to come and help. As soon as he got the chance, he went into the Police Academy and quickly rose through the ranks. Before he knew it, he made detective.

Now he was standing at the front door of a man he'd been after for nearly two years. Granted, what he had on him was shaky, but it gave him a chance to take a peek around the boy's apartment and question him.

He knocked on the door of the large apartment, the brown haired man was wearing one of his nicer suits and was with two men who were in police uniforms, "Naruto Uzumaki, this is the police. Open the door!"

The door opened and with a bored look on his face, "No need to yell, you could've just knocked. Hello Detective Yamato."

Yamato tried to look calm, although he was going insane on the inside, "Hello Mr. Uzumaki. We have a warrant to search the premises."

Naruto motioned for all of them to come in, "You didn't have to get a warrant, the lovely officers of the Konoha Police Department are always welcome in my home. Can I get you something to drink?"

Yamato couldn't believe how calm and polite he was being, "No thank you. We'll also be needing you to come down to the precinct and answer a few questions for us."

"Not a problem, I don't really have much to do today. May I ask what all this is about though?" Naruto asked, feigning ignorance.

Yamato wanted to smack the innocent smile right off from his face, "There's been some claims that you're connected to some art that recently went missing. It was shipped to the museum, but never actually arrived. This was very valuable stuff, so we're being pressured to follow up on every lead we get."

Naruto had a feeling that's what this was about, "Really? Well I wouldn't know anything about that. Why don't we just go to the precinct now while your friends here look through my apartment?"

"That'll work just fine. I'll drive you there myself," Yamato responded, surprised that he was so willing to the let them be alone in his home.

Naruto grabbed the coat from his chair, "Alright, let's head out then."

He and Yamato walked out of the apartment and down the stairs. Naruto lived on top floor of The Hidden Leaf Apartment Complex, called that because of it's peaceful secluded nature. It was one of the nicest complexes in all of Konoha, a relatively large city with a population just shy of 600,000 people. The Hidden Leaf wasn't the priciest place in Konoha, but Naruto prefered not to be very flashy. That would be far too riskey.

"Honestly Detective Yamato, with the number of times you've called me in for questioning I almost think you have something against me," Naruto said with a sly smile."

Yamato ground his teeth as Naruto kept picking at him, "What can I say, you just seem to keep falling into our crosshairs. I mean almost every investigation I do or hear about has your name coming up."

Naruto just loved to push Yamato's buttons, "You're a homicide detective right? That means you don't really cover theft. So you must have heard about this and asked specifically to question me yourself."

Yamato couldn't deny how intelligent Naruto was, "I figured it was better that you were questioned by me rather than some stranger."

Yamato opened passenger side door of his car and Naruto got in and said, "Well thank you for being so considerate."

"My pleasure," Yamato said as he slammed the door. Naruto just kept smirking. This was going to be a fun day for him.

* * *

It didn't take long for the two of them to get to the precinct and to get Naruto set up in an interrogation room. Yamato was currently watching him through one way glass, so he could see Naruto but Naruto couldn't see him. Honestly, Yamato had lost track ages ago of how many times he'd watched the blonde through the glass like this.

In his gut, Yamato knew that this guy was dirty. For the past 21 months, Yamato had been keeping track of when it start, almost ⅔'s of the murder investigations he did seemed to involve Naruto in some way. At bare minimum, the name Uzumaki came up. When Yamato looked into it, it turned out that Naruto Uzumaki was on just about everybody's watch list. It was like everyone in the world thought he was a criminal, but no one had an ounce of proof.

That's when a thin man walked in with gray hair, wearing a suit that similar to Yamato's but he was wearing a mask made of thin black cloth that covered his mouth. He also a had a patch over his left eye as well. Yamato noticed as soon as he walked in, "Hey Kakashi, do you need something?"

Kakashi looked at the who was in the interrogation room and sighed, "Come on Yamato, again, why are you putting yourself through this again? You know you don't have shit on him."

"A buddy of mine got a call in today that said our friend here might be linked to some stolen art. I told him that everything dealing with Uzumaki should go through me," Yamato told the older man with determination.

Kakashi really didn't want to hear that Yamato was gonna be watching every little thing Naruto did, "Aren't you going a little overboard here? You've got better things to do with your time your know?"

Yamato couldn't have felt Kakashi was more wrong, "I know this sick fuck is hiding something and I'm not just gonna let him walk."

Kakashi shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair, "I'm 45 years old Yamato, but I went gray way back when I was in my 20's because I stressed myself out chasing leads that would never gonna go anywhere. Take it from me, you're better off just cutting this guy lose and finding a case that'll have a chance of being prosecuted. Hell, you don't even know if he actually did anything."

Yamato looked back into the interrogation room, "Oh he did something alright, and I'll be on him like shit on velcro until I get find out what."

"Alright, I guess it's your decision. If you need some help then I'll come in and take my mask off to scare him," Kakashi joked as he left the room.

"Very funny Kakashi," Yamato said as he continued to stare at Naruto, "Alright you freaking punk, let's see what you're hiding."

* * *

As Naruto took stock of the all too familiar integration, he noted the same thing he always noted. This room was one of the most boring places a person could ever be stuck in. The walls were a baby barf greenish color and paint was chipping. His home may not have had a ton in it, but at least he kept the walls a pleasant white that didn't insult your eyes. There were nothing to look at in the room either, expect for a few filing cabinets and the glass window. He couldn't wait for Yamato to get in here so that he had something to do.

Finally the door opened and Yamato walked in, throwing a file on the table, "We've still got this left over from the last time we had to go through your house."

"Right, back when my old teacher Mizuki died," Naruto recollected.

Yamato corrected him, "He was murdered, and you had motive and means to do it."

"Yes, but you didn't find a shred of evidence that I had anything to do with it. Besides, I wouldn't call him flunking me in high school a motive for murder," Naruto said, remembering his old teacher and chuckling to himself at where the asshole was now.

Yamato looked through the file and showed Naruto some pictures of high end electronics, "For someone who flunked high school you do very well for yourself."

Naruto looked over the pictures, "What can I say, the restaurant I started up is doing very well. Teuchi and Ayame are making me a killing."

"A lot of people these days are using their business to launder money so they can spend their ill gotten gains," Yamato told him matter a factly.

Naruto always loved Yamato's lack of subtlety, "I've heard something about that kind of stuff, yeah. Of course I'd never do something like that."

"Of course not," Yamato replied with a hint of anger.

Naruto decided to cut to the chase, "So other than this call, what makes you think I might have something to do with this?"

Yamato had been hoping he wouldn't ask that. Now he'd have to bluff, "Well the first time we went into your apartment we found a few pieces of very nice art. You're clearly an art lover and we've got no other leads. With the it being such an expensive piece of art, we just didn't want to leave any stone unturned."

Naruto acted like it was no big deal, "I understand. You'll soon see that I have absolutely nothing to hide."

Yamato pulled out one last picture and it was of the fox statue Naruto's dresser, "Can ask what the deal is with this fox thing? I've just gotta know what in the hell it is."

Naruto smiled at the very mention of the fox, "That my friend, would be the Kyuubi. He's an ancient monster of Japanese folklore. Legend had it that he could destroy mountains and create valleys with a flick of one of his nine tails. However, he's also a master of tricky. They say that he could take to form of anything he wanted to and that no one could tell the difference."

Yamato could see he'd taken quite an interest in this thing, "You seem to be quite fond of it."

"You have no idea. I've got a tattoo of it on my back that I got when I was younger. The Kyuubi takes what it wants, and doesn't ask question. Sometimes it won't even use it's power and use his intelligence just for fun. Kind of like me," Naruto said with a hint of pride in his voice.

Yamato had a feeling he'd found what he could use to get to Naruto, "Are you saying that you take whatever you want and don't care about the consequences?"

Naruto caught himself very quickly, "I was more referring to not always using my power and sometimes just letting my intelligence take over."

"So you're saying you're very powerful?" Yamato said, still attacking everything he could.

Naruto just had to laugh, "Is there anything I can say that you won't try and find some deeper meaning in?"

Yamato leaned back in his chair, "Maybe it's just the way you talk."

Before Yamato could respond, the door opened on the interrogation room and woman with long black hair and ruby eyes who was wearing a suit and skirt walked in, "Well then it's a good thing he won't be doing any more talking."

Naruto looked up at the woman, "Well if it isn't my lovely lawyer Ms. Kurenai Yuhi. Always good to see you."

"Likewise Naruto. Now Detective, care to explain to me why you're talking to my client with out his attorney present? Better yet how did you got a warrant for his apartment on nothing more than an anonymous phone call?" Kurenai asked with a lot irritation.

Yamato knew Kurenai Yuhi very well at this point. She wasn't just a lawyer, she's was Konoha's best lawyer. They called her the Mistress of Illusion because of her ability to make a jury or a judge believe almost anything, "That's really none of your concern Ms. Yuhi."

"It is If I think you're harassing my client. How many time have you called him in with little or no evidence over the past year? You're lucky I haven't filed a complaint with your superiors." Kurenai said in a very threatening voice.

Naruto stood and stopped her, "Now Kurenai, he's just doing his job. I'm sure their search turned up nothing."

Kurenai turned back to Yamato, "On that much he's right. I stopped by there before I came here and they found absolutely nothing. Once again Detective, you've wasted everyone's time. Please don't let it happen in the future."

Yamato could see he was gonna have to save face, "My apologies, I'll try and be more cautious next time."

Kurenai walked out with Naruto, "See to it that you do, or I will have your badge."

As they left Yamato mumbled at himself, "Another day, another crime you've wormed your way out of…"

Kurenai was advising Naruto as they walked away, "I'm telling you Naruto, you need to file a complaint! You can't let them keep dragging you in like this!"

Naruto waved the whole thing off as usual, "Nah, it's just too much fun watching Yamato chase after me over and over again."

"If that's what you want, then fine. You're just lucky Kakashi called me before you could've given Yamato anything he could work with," Kurenai warned.

Naruto felt she was underestimating him, "I wouldn't do something that stupid and you know it. Why don't we just change the subject? For instance, how's it going with you and Asuma?"

Kurenai just had to smile, "You were right, once you get to know him he's sweet, kind, smart, and…" She blushed a little, "He's great in bed."

Naruto knew they'd hit it off, "Didn't know you had it in you Kurenai. Good for you." He could see Kakashi has walked out behind them, "I'm gonna go and chat up Kakashi. Always good to so see you Kurenai."

"Yeah, you too," Kurenai said with a little wave.

Kakashi walked up behind him, being careful to make sure Yamato wasn't watching them, "Care to explain what in hell happened back there?"

Naruto gave him a quizzical look, "What you mean? It was the same thing that always happens. Yamato brought me in, I screwed with him a bit, then left."

"I don't give a shit about that! Who in the hell is leaving anonymous calls about you?" Kakashi said with both fear and anger in his voice.

Naruto suddenly understood, "Oh that. Yeah, I'm going to look into it before I can give you a definite answer."

That wasn't good enough for Kakashi, "Well you'd better be fast about it. Yamato has his heart set on taking your ass down and whoever left this call seems to wanna help him. Fudging the occasional piece of paper work or pointing them in the wrong direction about an investigation every now and then is one thing, but I'm starting to have to protect your ass every other week. It's not gonna be long before people start questioning everything I do."

Naruto couldn't help but feel a bit guilty at the thought of Kakashi getting caught because of him. For the past three and half years Kakashi had been Naruto's man on the inside. He told Naruto what all was happening in the precinct and who all they were looking at for recent crimes. On more than one occasion Kakashi had told Naruto who to pay off or what to do when people started to look into his business.

Without him, Naruto wouldn't know what to do, "Look man, I'm sorry about all this. I know you're sticking your neck out for me and I appreciate it. I'll tell Kurenai to file a complaint about Yamato so he'll stop chasing me and then figure out who's trying to get me."

Kakashi was about to say something else but Naruto was already chasing after Kurenai and yelling, "Hey Kurenai, hold on second!"

Kakashi didn't feel completely in the right here, "Maybe I did stick my neck out for you...but let's face it. I owed you that much.

_Flashback to four years ago_

"_You son of a bitch! You ruined my life," Naruto screamed from the holding cell._

_Kakashi had never felt this guilty before, "Please, just let me explain!"_

_Naruto just kept screaming, "I don't care! There's nothing that you can say that would make me forgive you!"_

"_Let me try and make it up to you. I'll...I'll just…" Kakashi tried to think._

_Naruto turned away and walked back to the other eight people in his holding cell, "You can go fuck yourself for all I care."_

_Kakashi just kept looking into the bars with horror filled eyes. He would make this right...he just had to make it right!_

_Flashback end_

Kakashi did make it up to Naruto that day, although it had taken some doing. From that day on he'd been looking out for Naruto. As far as what he'd done to Naruto to make him feel so bad...well he really didn't wanna think about that. At least not today. It was just too painful

* * *

Once Naruto had gotten to Kurenai and told her to file the complaint, which she'd been very happy about, he called up a buddy of his to start trying to figure out who'd gotten him taken in. Of course he once again used the prepaid cell phone. He dialed the phone and waited as it rang, "Come on man. Pick up, pick up, pick the hell up."

Fine the other line answered and a young man said, "_Hello, Nara Technical Support, Shikamaru speaking."_

"Hey Shikamaru, it's Naruto. I got something I need you to do for me," Naruto explained.

Shikamaru Nara was a young, thin, black haired genius who had helped Naruto on several occasions. He may have acted like the head of a elections repair shop, but his real skill that he used to make cash was his ability to hack into just about any system in the world. That was just what Naruto needed right now, "_What'd ya need Naruto?"_

"We got someone who seems to be sticking their nose in my business. Kakashi should've sent you something so that you can figure out who it is. He's not allowed to track down anonymous calls," Naruto started.

"_But I am,"_Shikamaru finished, "_I'll figure track down the where the call was made from."_

Naruto knew he'd called the right guy, "Thanks a million, I'll be sure to send you your usual fee."

Shikamaru had been pulling up what Kakashi sent him as they spoke, "_That's all I need. I can tell already that the call was sent from a landline."_

"People still uses those?" Naruto joked.

"_Apparently they do. I can almost guarantee you it's gonna be a house or apartment. I should have the address in ten minutes,"_Shikamaru informed him.

Naruto always was impressed with how fast Shikamaru with this crap, "Sounds perfect. Do me a favor and send the address to Kiba and Ino once you've got it."

"_Sure thing man. Talk to you later,"_Shikamaru said and hung up.

Naruto hung up his line as well and then started to dial some other numbers, "While they're taking care of that, I've got a meeting to set up."

* * *

Kiba Inuzuka and Ino Yamanaka had married at a very young age, just 19 years old. Kiba was studying to become a veterinarian while making ends meet as a bartender and Ino was working a day job at her parents flower shop until she could finish up with her psychology degree. They both had lived rather privileged lives and grew very bored of it very quickly. No risks, no worries, no excitement. That boredom ended briefly when they'd first met each other, but before long they just became bored together.

However, they did finally find something to amuse the two of them...breaking the law. It started off so small, they would occasionally skip out on a check or steal a little trinket from a friend. Before they even knew what happened they were out of control, breaking the law at every chance they got. For them, it was like some strange kind of drug. Prue raw excitement!

While it almost got them killed on a couple of occasion, they soon found a way to get their excitement without getting into trouble with the help of one Naruto Uzumaki. He'd met Kiba before and when he found out about him being pulled in for assault and battery, Naruto made him an offer. Kiba and Ino would become his personal fixers and Naruto would make sure they never got caught. It was a dream come true for the two lovers.

At the moment the two of them were having lunch in a nice restaurant with another couple they were friends with. They were bullshitting about student loans and other high end crap. Ino was talking about her flower shop stuff, "And so this guy comes in and asks for half a dozen roses. I tell him that we only sell flowers by the dozen, which is true, it's my mom's policy. He flips out for no damn reason. Says that he only needs half a dozen and that's all he's paying for. Eventually I got him to pay for full dozen but I almost had call the cops."

Their friends laughed, "Oh man, that's just too much."

"I think my girl can take care of herself just fine, she doesn't any cops to take care of her," Kiba said as he felt his phone go off.

He looked down at his phone and it was just an address with a short sentence, 'These guys seem to know something about a blonde friend of yours. Go find out how.'

Kiba nudged his wife's shoulder, "Hey babe, we're gonna have to cut this lunch short."

He showed her the phone so that the others couldn't see it, "Looks like we do. I'm sorry guys, we'll catch up with you later."

The two of them got up with their friends waving goodbye, "Not a problem guys, don't be strangers now!"

Kiba and Ino waved back at them, "Don't worry, we won't!"

As soon as they were out of earshot Ino said, "Talk about a couple of douchebags."

Kiba couldn't agree more, "Yeah, but they make us look good. At least we got to leave early right?"

Ino and Kiba got to their car and pulled a couple of pistol out of their trunks, "I guess that's true. Now let's go have some real fun!"

* * *

If you asked anyone in Konoha who the Nine Kings were, they'd all look at you like you were insane. Half of the people would look at you like because they wouldn't have a clue what you were talking about, the other half would look at you like because you'd have to be crazy to talk about the Nine Kings.

So who were the Nine Kings? In the most basic terms, they were the nine kings of various crimes that took place in Konoha. No one was better than them and no one questioned them because they knew what would happen if they did. Naruto was head of this little organization, with his job being to use all of his connections in law enforcement and the crime world to make sure none of them got caught. Since each king had their own domain to make cash with that no one could challenge them in, none of them got into any fights. It was the perfect set up.

Speaking of Naruto, he was waiting for for the other eight kings to arrive in one of his favorite restaurants. Not his own of course, that would be far too risky. A friend of his, Choji Akimichi, owned a nice restaurant and was more than willing to look the other way about anything illegal that happened in exchanged for a little extra cash in his check at the end of the night.

Naruto was sitting at the table with Kakashi by his side as a sort of bodyguard. All of the kings trusted one another, but they weren't idiots. No one was gonna go in completely unprotected in case something big went down.

The first of the kings to arrive besides Naruto was Gaara, the King of Hitmen. If you wanted someone in Konoha dead and you weren't willing to do it yourself, he was who you saw. Gaara was Naruto's age with short red hair and a thin build. He was a rather quiet person, but if you set him off you'd best get the hell out of the way. Next to him was his older brother Kankuro, a brown hair well built man who knew more lethal poisons that wouldn't show up on an autopsy then you could shake a stick at, and his older sister Temari, a beautiful blonde who knew her way around several different kinds of knifes.

He walked up to Naruto and Kakashi and nodded, "It is good to see the two of you again. I do hope this meeting won't have too much bad news."

Naruto had gotten used to Gaara's monotone at this point, "I wouldn't say bad news, I just need to fill you guys in on something."

Gaara turned around and sat down in his seat, "I'm glad to hear it."

Just after he sat down, the next King, or Queen more accurately, walked in. Yugito, a blonde woman wearing incredibly nice clothes, was the master of white collar crime. Bank fraud, embezzlement, and insurance fraud were her bread and butter. She was great at what she did, but that didn't mean she was well liked. Even the other kings had to admit, she was a snobby bitch. Dodai, an old man with one eye, was her personal bodyguard. He might have looked old, but he could still hold his own against the best of them.

She didn't even bother to say hello to anyone. She just went and sat right down, "This better be good Naruto. I was in the middle of a rather important meeting."

Naruto almost snapped at her but Kakashi cut in, "I assure, it's very important Yugito."

Before Naruto could speak his mind the next King arrived. Yugaru was the youngest king at just 20 years old, a blonde boy who looked like he wasn't even done growing. He was the king of falsifying documents. Not just simple little things, he could create and destroy people with just a few pieces of paper. He didn't need a gun or a knife to kill someone, just paper and ink. His guards were two of the baddest motherfuckers in all of Konoha. Zabuza was known as a demon for his merciless killings and Kisame had actually gotten the nickname 'The Shark' because of his sharper than natural teeth and the rumors that he'd dabbled in cannibalism. It wasn't true, but he let the rumor go on for fear's sake.

Yagaru went right to his chair and sat down while Zabuza and Kisame said a quick hello to Naruto. Kakashi tried to talk to the young King, "So how's life been treating you Yagaru?"

Yagaru was clearly not interested in a chat, "I'm not up for a conversation Kakashi. I've never been much of a talker."

Kakashi frowned under his mask as another King walked in. Roshi was known by most as the King Bribery. While traditionally a white collar crime, not even Yugito could deny just how good Roshi was at it. He didn't necessarily do the bribery himself, he was usually more of an advisor. It was his job to tell someone who to bribe or if they should be getting bribed, how much they should pay or how much they should get paid, things like that. When trying not get yourself in a whole shit ton of trouble, a guy like Roshi was nice to have. For his monetary fee, of course. Kurotsuchi, his 23 year old black haired cousin, was guarding him, and she was one hell of a fighter.

The red haired bearded man shook Naruto and Kakashi's hands, "Nice to see you two again. How are you doing."

"Were doing good, thanks," Naruto said, "How are you two."

"Can't complain, not that anyone would listen if I did," Roshi said as he sat down.

Kakashi chuckled at the joke when Han, another of the King's who wore a mask and a large red straw hat, arrived. All that you could see of him were his eyes, which were an orangish-red color. He was a quiet man who only ever spoke when spoken to. That attitude, plus the fact that he was incredibly tall and muscular, made many people nervous around him. He was the King black market goods. If you wanted to sell something that was stolen in Konoha, you had to go through him.

Han didn't really say anything, he just tipped his hat to them. Next to him was his bodyguard, Deidara, a man obsessed with explosions and art, which he considered to be one and the same. He was a rather feminine man, even having been mistaken for a woman more than once. Those that made that mistake never made it more than once. In fact they never found all of their body parts in the same place again.

When Han sat down Naruto asked him, "So are you doing well Han?"

Han said simply, "I'm doing very well, thank you."

Naruto wanted to think of something to get his attention, but nothing came to mind before the next King showed up. Utakata was the king of prostitution, and he was damn good at it. The thin dark haired man wasn't a pimp by any means, he was too smart to pull something like that. He treated all of his women fairly and never beat or abused them. They knew he expected a certain amount of the money they made to be given to him and if they didn't like it, they could leave. If they wanted to sell him out, then he'd kill them. He would n'tbe cruel about it though, just a quick shot to the back of the head and it was over.

Next to him was the incredibly beautiful and deadly Mei, with auburn hair, a curvaceous figure, and mile long legs. She may have looked sweet but she was a killer though and trough. Mei had started out as another call girl, but when Utakata saw here other skills he decided to use her elsewhere. Occasionally she did go back to her old profession, as men were willing to pay a high price to be with her. An incredibly high price actually.

Mei gave Naruto a quick wink as she walked by, she was a very flirtatious woman, and Utakata just said, "Glad we can all get together again. Hopefully we have a good time."

"I'll do my best," Naruto replied with a slight smile.

"Well hey there lover boy, how've you been?" asked the next King, actually Queen, as she walked in. Fu was 24 years old, Naruto's age, with tan skin and green hair that was supposedly natural, although not many people believed her. She was known for her Illegal trafficking of goods and exotic animals. Unlike most traffickers, Fu always made sure the animals they captured and sold were treated humanely and went to a good home. All Fu was trying to do was bring rare animals into a good home. The trafficking of goods was where she made her real money.

She was being guarded by an old friend of hers, a long black haired man Shibuki. He was just a general bodygaurd, not really a lot to him. If she needed to be protected, Fu knew that she could count on Naruto. Their relationship was far from just a professional one. They'd spent many a night in each other's arms.

Naruto looked at tight skirt and slightly revealing top, "Damn Fu, you look great."

Fu gave him a little giggle, "Maybe you'll get to see how good later. Right now we've got a meeting to get underway."

"Aw man, you're killing me," Naruto said as Fu brushed her hand against his cheek.

With that the final King arrived, a large black man who most people knew as Killer Bee. He was the King of Narcotics, although he didn't touch them himself. As they say, 'Never get high on your own supply.' Killer Bee mainly just sold whatever he could get his hands on. If you paid the fee, Bee was fine. If you didn't, well let's just say price was no long the thing that was getting cut.

For whatever reason, he also liked to rap when he talked at times, "Yo, together we are the Nine Kings! So let commence with the meeting!"

Bee's older brother, A, who was his bodyguard and was ripped enough to kill someone with his bare hands, smacked him, "Shut the hell up Bee."

Naruto found Bee's wrapping very funny, "Just as much fun as I remember Bee. He's right though, why don't you sit down and we'll get this meeting started?"

* * *

Both of them were high as a kite, so damn high that they couldn't even remember their names. They were two nobodies, living out their days getting high off prescription drugs in a house that looked like a damn shack. It had a TV, not that they could afford to to have cable, and a phone. That was pretty much it. Every last dime they had, they spent on drugs.

They were just laying on the ground, staring up at the ceiling with vacant looks on their faces. It was empty bliss for quite some time, until they heard a knock on the door. One of them managed to stumble their way up and answer the door, "What the fuck do you want?...Oh shit, get over here dude!"

The other guy got up and went to the door to find a smoking hot blond there, "Well hi boys, how are you doing?"

They couldn't believe this was happening, "Did you call her?"

The other guy shook his head, "No way man, I ain't got that kind of cash."

"My name's Ino. Do you mind if my friend and I come inside?" Ino asked the two stoned men.

"Holy shit, she's got a friend," One of the men said, grabbing his friend shirt.

The other one was almost bouncing up and down, "Yeah, get your friend in here babe!"

Ino walked in and was quickly followed by her husband. The two of them took out their pistols and pointed at the stoned idiots head's, "Thank you so much for letting us in so nicely boys."

The men had a very quick mood swing, "Oh man. Look, what the fuck did we ever do to you people?"

Kiba walked around them, his gun never pointing away from the man's head, "It's not what you did to us, it's the call you made about a friend of ours, Naruto Uzumaki."

"Wait, that's the name that doctor guy said on the phone," One of them yelled.

The other added on, "Yeah, we didn't have anything to do with that. We barely even heard what he said. He was just some guy who wanted to use our phone!"

Ino pressed her gun to the man's temple, "So why did you let him use your phone?"

"Because he was a doctor and he gave us our favorite pills. All he wanted us to do was let him use our phone," He told them.

Kiba rolled his eyes, "And you never thought it was weird?"

They were both in tears, "We just wanted the fucking drugs man, we swear! Please don't kill us."

Ino clicked off her safety, "We would, but a couple of drug addicts who would do something that stupid for some pills really can't be trusted in any way, shape, or form. You're too stupid to try and trick us and too high to remember anything else. Pleasure talking with you though."

Both Kiba and Ino pulled their triggers and sent the men's brains splattering across the floor. Kiba looked at the mess they'd made, "Thank god we ain't gotta clean that up."

Ino looked around, "Their couch seems pretty clean, perfectly usable. Nice and sturdy too."

Kiba knew what she was getting at, "You wanna fuck on their couch, don't you?"

"You got a problem with that," Ino asked with a seductive smile.

Kiba took off his jacket, "Not even a little bit. Just let me call Shikamaru and tell him what we found."

* * *

All of the Kings had gotten a little irritated when Naruto's phone went off right in the middle of filling them in on what had gone down with Yamato, but when Naruto had seen it was Shikamaru calling, he just had to pick up. They all watched him him nod and occasionally mumble something like, 'So you're sure they had no connection to anyone', and 'I guess that make sense if he was a doctor.

Naruto hung up and told the others, "Alright, so it's looking like it was doctor who'd made the call,"

"Oh for god's sake, before we start hearing this crap about some doctor who probably won't even turn out to have existed, I'm just gonna say what we're all thinking! Why aren't we wondering what Han's place in all this is? I mean, it was his stolen art that they were saying you're involved with right?" Yugito just bursted out.

The usually calm Han stood up, "What did you just say?"

Yugito stood up too, "You heard me! I was just telling the truth!"

Han's eye was twitching in rage and he said in a low growl, "For a woman you've got a set of balls on you."

Naruto slammed his hand on the table, "Enough! Both of you just shut the fuck up!"

Yugito glared at him hard, "Don't you dare talk to me that way!"

"Don't you dare open your mouth again! You're accusing Han on a some baseless hunch and I won't stand for it!" Naruto started, "I'd trust any of the Nine Kings with my life and I'd like to think you'd all do the same!"

Gaara decided to cut in, "Do I need to remind you, Yugito, of the promise we all made four years ago?"

He pulled his shirt down and showed them all a tanuki tattoo on his shoulder and Naruto pulled his shirt up to show them the Kyuubi on his back. Yugito felt rather ashamed and felt the tattoo of a blue cat with two tails on her ankle. Yugaru felt his tattoo of a three tailed turtle on side. Roshi felt the four tailed ape tattoo on his left bicep and Han felt the fived tailed horse on his right. Utataku put his hand on the six tailed slug on his chest and Fu brushed the seven tailed locust on her waist. Bee put his hand on his neck where his eight tailed bull tattoo was.

Naruto reminded them all, "When we all got put in that holding cell together, we promised that we would protect one another and make each other completely untouchable. You saw my tattoo and Gaara's tattoo and decided you each get one for yourself as a mark. That's the way we've lived for the past four years and we've built something pretty great here haven't we?"

They all nodded and Yugito looked at Han, "I guess that I shouldn't have accused so quickly. Naruto, as you were saying."

Naruto finally finished, "My guy says that a doctor used some no name druggies phone to make the call accusing me. He probably pulled some files to see who had a track record of being cut off from getting pain killers for abusing them and went to the trashy place he could find so that whoever he used wouldn't be credible enough to ID him."

"Okay, but why? He must have known it wouldn't actually do anything," Fu reasoned.

Naruto had a bad feeling about that, "I think he was trying to send a message. He knows who we are and he's coming for us."

Gaara had a simple solution, "We'll just have to kill him."

"Well yeah, but we have to figure out who he is first. All we know is that he's a doctor which isn't much to go on. I just wanted to fill you all in on what happened. Keep an eye out for anybody being weird, okay?" They all nodded, "Good, dinner's on me and I'll see you all later."

Naruto got up to leave but Fu grabbed his arm, "You're not going anywhere without me. We haven't gotten together in two and half weeks. For the rest of the night, you're mine."

Naruto grinned and told Kakashi, "You can leave for the night. Looks like I'm going to be very busy."

They walked away and Kakashi called, "Don't forgot to use protection you two!"


	2. Profit in Death

Welcome my friends to the next installment of Nine Crimes, Nine Kings. The last chapter was a lot of setting and explain what this story would be about. Now that I've gotten that part out of the way, I can move on to get the rest of the major characters in their spots and get more of the plot going. Now ladies and gentlemen, on to Nine Crimes, Nine Kings.

* * *

Naruto and Fu had barely even gotten into the blondes apartment before they started going at it. As soon as Naruto closed the door, Fu pushed him against a wall and smashed her lips into his. The girl's lips were just as soft and exhilarating as Naruto remembered. He kissed back and gave a soft moan as Fu slid her skilled tongue into his mouth. She let loose a little surprised squeele when Naruto picked her up by the waist and brought her into his bedroom.

Naruto threw her onto his bed and took of his shirt, "It has been way too long since we did this."

Fu removed her own shirt to reveal she was wearing nothing underneath, "Well then come and get it big boy."

Naruto licked his lips, "My pleasure."

* * *

Orochimaru was a man with very few allies, and even fewer friends. He was a sickly looking man, with pale white skin and greasy black hair. Not the really the kind of person you felt like you could trust. This made it a shocking to most that he was a doctor of all things. The nasty looking man wasn't a typical physician though, as he'd done some less than honorable things while he worked.

Whenever someone who was homeless or didn't have a family, basically someone that nobody would miss, came into the hospital where he worked, he would invite them over to his house for the night so they'd have a place to stay. However, when you came to stay with Orochimaru...you never got to leave. He used those people for his own personal experimentation.

Orochimaru was a brilliant man, but most people found his experiments to be cruel and unusual. The majority of his experiments had to do with trying to increase the average human lifespan, through some rather disgusting means. He'd cut them open and tamper with just about anything he could find. Everyone he experimented on ended up looking like monsters once Orochimaru was finished, yet, no one he'd ever experimented on had lived, much to his dismay. Still, thanks to all his work with stem cells, organ transplantation, and other various other things, he was getting closer everyday.

The mad doctor was sitting at his desk right now, a file in his hand while planning what he wanted to do for his next experiment. He'd finished up with his normal patients half an hour ago, so he could focus on his little hobby. Orochimaru heard his prepaid cell phone go off on his desk and he had to answer when he was who the caller ID was, "Good evening Madara, what can I do for?"

Madara coughed a couple of times before he responded, "_Just checking in to see how the first phase of the plan is going."_

"Oh it's going swimmingly. I made the call last night so I'm sure they got the message. It's been made quite clear to them something is very wrong with their orginization," Orochimaru bragged.

Madara tried to keep talking but it was hard with his constant coughing, "_Good. Make sure you...cough…cough...do everything exactly as I told you or I will back out of my end of the deal."_

Orochimaru was slightly irritated at the way Madara was talking to him, "Fine, but for the record, I believe that I'm intelligent enough to help you actually plan this operation and not just be your little puppet."

"_Frankly Orochimaru, while I do respect you, I'm smart enough run circles around you. However...cough...cough...I'm in no condition to argue right now," _Madara rasped out, "_Just keep doing as I say and you'll get your money when this all over."_

Orochimaru didn't even have the chance to say anything before Madara abruptly hung up. He really hated that old man, but he needed the money. He'd made a deal with that psycho just a few months ago and that was a day he'd never forget.

_Flashback_

_It was supposed to be a routine check up on some rich old fuck. Madara Uchiha was 103 year old, ancient by just about anybodies standards. He was the grandson of the founder of a massive weapons manufacturer, United Sharingan Defense. They were famous for their Susanoo body armor, the best bullet proof vest ever made, the Mangekyo Sniper Rifle, which any experienced sniper could clear a room from miles away with, and the Amaterasu Flame Grande, with just one you could burn down an entire city thanks to speed with which the flames spread. The Uchihas were billionaires._

_Key word being were, as their stocks had begun to take a huge hit to the point that they were worth almost nothing. The wars were all over right now and United Nations were even looking into some of the United Sharingan Defense's past actions because there were claims the company had knowingly sold dangerous weapons to terrorist organizations. The worst part was, they actually had sold weapons to some very shady groups. Hey, the way Madara saw it if they were willing to pay the price, they got weapons. Once the investigation was over, the company was likely going have to pay some hefty fines and there'd maybe even a few arrests. Madara had at least been smart enough to make sure most of the blame would fall on him, as he was too old to for prison to be an issue anyways._

_He knew that the company would be banned from producing or selling any kind of weapons, as this wasn't the first time they'd been caught in the illegal weapons trade. Weapons were the only thing the United Sharingan Defense had the equipment to make. In the time it would take to find some new product to mass produce, they would go bankrupt. However, the Uchiha couldn't let their company fall beneath the companies of the Hyuuga's or the Aburame's, that wasn't an option. Yet, there was only one thing as profitable as war...crime. Madara needed to get the Uchiha's into the crime world, and he just needed a little help to do it. Help from a doctor he'd learned some very interesting things about. _

_Orochimaru walked into Madara's room, which was filled with to brim with expensive items of various shapes and sizes, and sat his things down. Apparently Madara needed to make it known the moment you met him just how rich he was, even if his company was dying. You'd think the massive mansion that he lived in, despite the fact that he lived by himself, would be enough to tell you that. Sadly, with the way things were going he'd likely have to sell everything he owned just to pay off his debts._

_Orochimaru tried to make small talk as he rummaged through his bag for the things he needed, "So Mr. Uchiha, I understand you're the head of a very large company."_

"_I was the head," Madara corrected him, "After some new information came to light I was asked to step down._

_Orochimaru was still impressed, "True, but to run a company from your bed, that must take a lot of skill."_

_Madara gave a little prideful smirk, "Well I may be old, but I'm still smarter than any of the other little shits who worked at United Sharingan Defense." _

_Orochimaru had few syringes in his hands now, "That's good to know. So I'm going to give you your typical shots, nothing new this time."_

"_Good, those things make me feel awful," Madara said a scowl on his face._

_Orochimaru was trying to find a good vein to use on Madara, "Well I'll do my best to make sure you don't feel too sick."_

_As Orochimaru put the needle into his arm, Madara decided it was time to but his plan in action, "Did you know that I asked for you specifically?"_

_Orochimaru looked surprised as he pulled the first syringe out and got the next one ready, "Really? Now why did you do that?"_

"_Because I've heard some very interesting things about you," Madara explained._

_Orochimaru put the next syringe in, "Like what?" _

_Madara was going to enjoy this, "You see, I've got some men that worked for me whose past I had purposely erased. They'd done some things that weren't well appreciated by the police but they were still valuable enough where I didn't want to lose them. So I had given them new identities. Of course this meant they had to assume the new identities, so no they longer had a family. One of these men had go to the hospital and you ended up being the one who treated him."_

_Orochimaru's heartbeat start to speed up, "Is that so?"_

_Madara could see he'd gotten Orochimaru's attention, "Yes, but we never did see him again after that."_

"_So how do you know it was me who treated him?" Orochimaru asked nervously._

_Madara knew he'd ask that, "Because when one of my employees go missing, I look into it. My private investigator found out a lot about you and I must say, you've got some very interesting hobbies Orochimaru."_

_Orochimaru's mind was racing. This old son of bitch knew exactly what he was doing. He needed to think! There must have been something that he could do to make sure he wouldn't talk. Madara could already tell what was going on inside Orochimaru's head, "Just so we're clear, I have no problem with what you're doing."_

_Orochimaru blinked a couple of times out of confusion, "What do you mean?"_

_Madara had him hooked and he knew it, "I happen to respect what you're doing. It's barbaric...cough...cough...that we're not trying everything we can to make humans live longer. Ethical and humane are just words cowards use to keep people like us from becoming immortal."_

_Orochimaru was shocked that Madara saw things his way, "Nice to see someone else understands."_

_Madara wasn't lying about this either. He believed Orochimaru was totally justified to be doing what he was doing. After all, if humans could find a way to live longer, why not? It was time to make Orochimaru the offer, "So I'm going to guess you've heard about the troubles plaguing my family's company as of late?"_

_Orochimaru knew about it alright, "Just about every person in the world has heard about it. When a company that big goes under, it's pretty much national news."_

"_Fair enough. I know without our old military contracts we're going to be broke within the year. However, the Uchiha can not die like that, I simply won't allow it," Madara said with determination. _

_Orochimaru injected Madara with the last syringe, "So then what are you going to do."_

_Madara had been planning this for quite some time, "I used crime to save this company once, and now I'm gonna use crime to save it again."_

_Orochimaru couldn't help but be intrigued, "You used crime to save United Sharingan Defense?"_

_Madara gave him a small nod, "I did indeed. Murder isn't something I typically have to do, but business is business. Since our business can no longer be war, I've decided it's going to be crime. I'm going to use the power my company's got left and take over the greatest criminal organization Konoha has ever seen. _

"_What in the hell are you talking about and what does any of this have to do with me?" Orochimaru asked, as he was completely lost._

_Madara could see it was time to stop beating around the bush, "I told you before that I erased my employees past when I needed to. Well that wasn't completely true, as I couldn't do it completely by myself. It took the help of someone named Yagura, the king of falsifying documents, to it. He's called a king because he's a member of the Nine Kings, Konoha's top criminal organization."_

_Orochimaru had heard of them before, "I know about the organization, but I've never heard of Yagura himself."_

_Madara waved it off, "Not important, what is important is that I intend to use my intelligence and what's left of my company's power to take over the Nine Kings. Before I die, which in my shape will be soon, I'm going to overthrow the Nine Kings and replace them with people I know I can trust. They'll take orders from my successors and the money they make will be laundered into United Sharingan Defense. With that money, this company will never be at risk of dying ever again."_

_Orochimaru still didn't understand what was going on, "Why are telling me all this?"_

"_I'm getting to that," Madara snapped, "I can't get this done on my own, but I also don't want any of my successors do my bidding in case the worse should happen and we get caught."_

_Orochimaru had been wondering, "You keep mentioning these successors, but who are they?"_

_Madara realized he'd forgotten to explain that part, "Another Uchiha of course. One of my son's would've been ideal, but they're all dead. One of my grandson's perhaps, although Obito's never been one for business and Fugaku...well he's no longer with us. I think I'll go with one of my great grandson's, Sasuke or Itachi…."_

_Orochimaru was sorry he asked, "Talk about a drawn out explanation. So you don't want you successors to get caught. Does that mean you want me to be the one who does all your bidding?"_

"_You really are a smart one. You'll do every little thing I ask of you, and in exchange I'll see to it that you get funding that can be used for your experiments." Madara said, finally putting his offer on the table._

_Orochimaru could hardly believe it. He finally had the chance to get some real funding, "I've done so much already, just imagine how much more I could do with some extra money."_

_Madara reminded him, "You only get the money if you do what I ask. Based on your reaction, I assume you have a deal."_

_Orochimaru took Madara's hand and shook it, "Yes, we have a deal."_

_Flashback end_

It may have been a sucky job, but Orochimaru would do as Madara asked of him until he had that precious cash in his hands. He picked up his phone and began to dial, "Time to get the next phase of this plan into action."

* * *

Naruto laid with a blissful smile next to his lover. Their bodies were covered only by a thin sheet. They'd just woken up after a night of pure passion and both of them felt totally satisfied. It was strange though, for Naruto one of the best parts was just the feeling of Fu's warm body next to his and her head on his shoulder.

Fu was using her finger to make little circles on Naruto's chest, "That was just incredible."

Naruto gave her a kiss on the top of the head, "It always is with you. Much as I'd love to just lay here, why don't you get up so that I can make the two of us a late breakfast?"

Fu pulled the sheets off from her, "I'd love to, but I've gotta go home get changed for my meeting with my uncle. I'm supposed to have lunch with him."

Naruto couldn't help but take in Fu's beautiful body, "Oh come, you've got time to eat."

Fu started to put on the clothes she'd worn the night before, "No, I really don't. I've gotta get cleaned up and put on some fresh clothes."

Naruto tried to reason with her, "You can shower here and just wear the clothes you wore last night."

Fu looked at him like he was crazy, "I'm not going to see my uncle in dirty clothes."

Naruto stood up and cupped Fu's face in his hands. He gave her a long passionate kiss, both of them letting out a little moan. When he pulled away he said, "Please stay, just stay for a while."

Fu felt awful about leaving, "Believe me, I really do wanna stick around but I just can't. I've got nothing here to change into."

"Why don't you leave some stuff over here?" Naruto suggested, "Some clothes and a toothbrush, stuff like that. You can stay overnight and not have to leave first thing in morning for once."

Fu gave Naruto a mischievous smirk, "That's a pretty big step Naruto. You sound like you're really starting to care about me."

Naruto wasn't arguing, "You're the only girl I've fucked for the past year. Oh course I care about you."

"To be fair, we do fuck an awful lot," Fu commented.

Naruto couldn't help but smile at the memories, "Yes we do. So will you leave some stuff here next time?"

Fu gave him a little kiss on the cheek, "I'd be happy to. You'd better make me a pretty great breakfast next I come here."

"You're about to see just how good of a cook I really am," Naruto said as she walked away.

Fu left the bedroom and went to Naruto's front door, "Alright, I'll see you later Naruto."

Naruto sighed as she closed the door, "See you later, you sexy green haired vixen."

* * *

Fu really did have a meeting she had to get to. She was going to see her Uncle Kakuzu, one of the most powerful men in the world of crime. Kakuzu may not have been one of the Nine Kings, but there was still no one in Konoha who would touch him. They needed him far too much to do that.

Kakuzu was very important in Konoha's underworld because lended money to criminals exclusively. It was cash that couldn't be traced and you didn't need a background check to get. However, it was also very risky to get a loan from him. When you borrowed money from him, the interest rates were extremely high and if you were even a day late in paying him back he'd do just about every horrible thing but kill you. If you didn't get his money within the week, that's when things got rather macabre. He'd earned the nickname The Demon of Hearts because he would tear out someones heart and sell it on the black market to make up for the money they owed him. He got at least some of his money back and it made people terrified of him, the perfect combo.

The only strange thing about him, well besides that he ripped peoples hearts out, was no one had a clue where he got the cash from. Kakuzu, even in the beginning, seemed to have a limitless amount of money that he would just pull out of thin air. They didn't have a clue where he stored it, how much he actually had, and what he did with it other than lend it to people.

He'd survived much longer than the average person in the criminal underworld, as he was 78 years old. Even though he was that old, he still tried to keep himself up and moving as much as possible. The moment you stopped moving was the moment you died. Kakuzu had kept himself alive by trusting absolutely no one and caring about no one...well, except for one person.

The Demon of Hearts was currently waiting for his niece, Fu, in his dimly lit office. He had his guards all around him, but they were relatively bored since all of them trusted Fu. Kakuzu always had guards around, just to be safe. There was Hidan, a psycho who people often joked was immortal because of all the close calls he'd survived, Sasori, who was the person who had taught Kankuro about poisons and he honestly feared the boy had surpassed him, and Pakura, a pyromaniac who Kakuzu honestly found father amusing. Honestly, she was the only one he actually liked.

While he'd been thinking about all this, there was a knock at his door. He instinctively called out, "Come in."

The door opened and his lovely green haired niece walked in, "Hey Uncle Kakuzu. I see you're still a damn vampire."

Kakuzu knew she was talking about how dim he kept it, "Did you wanna get better veiw of my wrinkled old face or my black wiry hair?"

Fu walked over and gave her uncle a loving kiss on the forehead, "I was just picking at you, that's all."

Kakuzu gave a little laugh at his niece's attitude, "You're the only person who can pick at me without getting killed you know?"

Fu sat down across from him, "Yeah, I know. So what did you get us for lunch?"

Kakuzu pulled a couple of take out boxes from under his desk, "I got you a chicken salad from that place down the block that you like and got myself a cheeseburger."

Fu shook her head as she opened her salad, "Those damn things are gonna kill you. Either those or the cigars you smoke anyways."

"I'm 78 years old, I don't give a fuck anymore." Kakuzu shot back.

Fu couldn't argue with that, "I guess you've earned the right to do what you want at this point."

Kakuzu had earned it alright, "Damn straight little gir. Besides, I still work out from time to time. So what's be going on with you?"

Fu took a bite of her salad and said, "Well Naruto wants me to start leaving stuff at his place so that we can spend more time together."

Kakuzu had started to dig into his cheeseburger, "Well that's good. It's funny though, I can remember a time just a few years ago when you came in ranting about how you hated the guy."

Fu couldn't believe he still remembered that, "We argued a lot, but that was mainly because I didn't like him being in charge."

Kakuzu raised an eyebrow, "You don't like anybody but yourself to be in charge."

Fu wanted to disagree, but she didn't have a leg to stand on, "No I don't. Still, Naruto didn't take any of my shit. When we'd argue he'd fight right back. One time we were arguing really hard, I don't even remember what it was about anymore, and he'd brought his face right up next to mine. Something about the fight in his eyes and the fact that he wasn't backing down, it was all just kind of sexy."

Kakuzu looked up from his food, "That doesn't sound weird at all."

Fu gave him a playful smack on the shoulder, "Shut up. The next thing I knew we were in bed together. Naruto wasn't a jerk about it either, in fact he was really sweet the morning after. He even said that if I didn't want him to tell anyone about what happened that he wouldn't. After that I couldn't deny that he was a good guy who was really just trying to do what was best for the Nine Kings. I stopped being stubborn and before I knew it, we were in an honest to goodness relationship."

"Very sweet, in a bloody criminal type of way," Kakuzu noted.

Fu almost spit out her salad she found that so funny, "Yeah, we're not exactly Romeo and Juliet."

Kakuzu wiped his mouth with a napkin, "So how is Naruto doing?"

Fu's demeanor changed a little bit at that, "He's doing okay, but it's looking like someone might be coming after the kings."

Kakuzu wasn't expecting something like that at all, "Who in the fuck has the balls to do that?"

Fu wished she knew, "Hell if I know, but they'd better have a damn army them."

Kakuzu had finished up his cheeseburger so he tossed the box in the trash, "If they're taking you guys on, then that would be the case."

There was another knock on the door and Pakura went to see who it was. She cracked the door open just enough to talk to who it was then turned to Kakuzu, "It's Sakon and he doesn't have the money. It's been 8 days sir."

Kakuzu got up from his desk, "Fu, would you excuse me for a moment?"

Fu knew what was coming, "I'm gonna go make a few quick calls in the other room. I love you to death, but the this part just creeps the hell out me."

Kakuzu watched her go into the lounge, which was just to the side of the office, and then opened the door to let Sakon in, "So your eight days late with your payments?"

Sakon got on his knees, "Please Kakuzu, you have to understand that position I'm in! They're just not buying anything I'm selling! If you just give me a month,"

Kakuzu grabbed Sakon's hair threw him onto the ground, "A month? That's not how this works and you know it. One way or another, I'm getting my money."

Sakon tried to crawl away, "You can have anything else! My liver, my kidney, just not my heart!"

Kakuzu picked up a hammer off from his desk, "I'm going to enjoy my visit with my niece. In the mean time, you're going to take a little nap and my friends here will prep you for surgery."

Sakon just kept begging, "We can work something out!"

Kakuzu raised up his hammer, "No, we can't."

He smacked Sakon over the head with a hammer just hard enough to knock him unconscious. Then he turned to Sasori, "Keep him knocked out for the next few hours. I'm going to spend a couple more hours with Fu."

Sasori and Pakura picked him up and started to move him while Hidan grinned, "I love working for that crazy motherfucker."

* * *

Naruto decided that since he couldn't have a late breakfast with his favorite girl, he'd go and get a bite to eat with an old friend of his. It was a win-win, since who he was visiting just might be the only person smart enough to figure out what was going on with Nine Kings. He picked up some food for the two of them and headed to last place on earth you'd ever expect a criminal to go. A retired police officers house.

Naruto walked up to the front door of a pleasant little house and rung the doorbell. Before long an old man with with long white hair answered the door, "Naruto, what a nice surprise. Oh, and it looks like you brought a little food too. What's the occasion?"

Naruto gave the old man a quick hug, "Hey Jiraiya. I just came to ask you a few questions. Since I was gonna come here, I figured why not make it fun."

Jiraiya smacked him on the back and the two walked inside, "Any excuse to get you over here is good enough for me."

Naruto was glad to have Jiraiya to talk to about all this. Kakashi was a great detective and Shikamaru was like a genius, but Jiraiya was the master of deductive reasoning. The man could give Sherlock Holmes a run for his money. He'd been one of Konoha's finest detectives in his prime, but now he'd retired a long time ago. Now he just gave advice to his friends, even if he didn't always approve of their actions.

He was actually worried about Naruto's actions at the moment, "So are these things you need to ask me about related to the Nine Kings?"

Naruto cringed at the question, "Yes, they are."

Jiraiya sighed and took the food from Naruto, setting on the table, "Naruto, what you're doing is wrong. How many times to I have to say it?"

Naruto didn't know what to tell him, "We're a lot better than most criminals you know. Gaara only takes hits out on people he feels earned it, Fu makes sure her animals are treated well,"

"Yugito rips off people off of money that could've gone into the economy, Yagura makes documents that let criminals run free, Roshi helps pay off juries and rap victums," Jiraiay fired back, "Need I go on?"

Naruto got out some ramen, Teuchi's signature dish, and gave Jiraiya one of the two bowls, "If you don't like it then why don't you just turn me in?"

Jiraiya didn't feel that was the answer, "Throwing you in prison won't do any good. You would either get life in prison or be put away for so long that you wouldn't have even a chance of a normal life when you got out, and that's if you made a deal. That's not what I want and that's not what your father would've wanted."

Naruto hung his head in irritation, "I've said it once and I'll say it again, my father's not here. Don't try pulling my mom out either, because she's gone too."

Jiraiya should've know that wouldn't work, "I guess you're tired of hearing about him huh?"

"You don't even know that half of it. Everyone who knows who my dad was just loves to brag about how he was this great hero and was like Konoha's own personal white night. I get it, he was awesome, but I'm not him," Naruto said as he prepared to chow down on his favorite meal.

Jiraiya just kind of poked at his food, "Your father was the closest thing I've ever had to a son...I guess I just want what's best for the closest thing I've ever had to a grandson."

Naruto stopped mid bite, "Look, I appreciate all that you're doing for me but I just like things the way they are. Can we please just focus on the issue with the Nine Kings and talk about this some other day?"

Jiraiya could live with that, "I suppose that'll have to do. So, what exactly are these problems of yours?"

Naruto then proceeded to tell him all about the things that had happened the day before. All about him being called in and the mysterious doctor. He even told him about the Yugito accusing Han of betraying them.

The more Jiraiya heard, the deeper he began to think. Once Naruto was all done talking, he began to draw his conclusions, "Well I must say, it was a very brilliant first move to make."

Naruto could've told him that already, "Okay, I was hoping for a little more than that."

Jiraiya supposed that was kind of vague, "I'll try to explain. This call served three purpose. First, it got all of the king's attention. That's why he went after you, someone who affect all Nine of the Kings. Second, it got the Kings wondering about one another. Just look at the way Yugito talked about Han. Last but not least, they got got the police looking at you."

"Well the last part must've backfired, because I told Kurenai to file a complaint against Yamato," Naruto told him

Jiraiya had heard about that, "Ya, Yamato called me and told me about that. He was really pissed too. Thing is, I think that's exactly what this guy was hoping you'd do."

Naruto just gave him a funny look, "Um...what?"

"He was hoping you'd do something that would force the cops to stop chasing after you," Jiraiya explained, realizing that he was once again being vague.

Naruto hated trying to follow Jiraiya's line of thought sometimes, "If this guy was trying to take us out, why in the hell wouldn't he want the cops chase us?"

Jiraiya was going to have to explain himself clearly for once, "Based on what he's done, I don't think this guy wants you all taken down. If it were that simple he would've just killed you already. Sounds like what he want is your jobs, and it'll be a lot easier to get them if the cops aren't around."

Naruto had to admit, this didn't seem like someone out for revenge, "That actually makes a lot of sense. If payback was what they wanted then the phone call really wouldn't have made any sense.

Jiraiya could see he'd figured it all out, "You're dealing with some who's incredibly smart. If this is his first move, then he's got something big planned up ahead."

Naruto really didn't like the sound of that, "So what do we do? What do I tell the Nine Kings to do?"

Jiraiya could only think of one thing to tell them, "The best thing you guys can do right now is stick together. I really can't stress that enough. If you start fighting amongst one another then it's all over."

Naruto could see what he was talking about, "I think that you're right, but some of the kings won't make that easy. Yugito and Yugura are gonna be a problem, I can tell you that right now. Those two don't trust anyone, plus Utakata doesn't really like Han."

Jiraiya finished up his ramen and set it to the side, "If you kept better company you wouldn't have to worry about all this."

Naruto gave Jiraiya a little glare, "Can you please just leave it be for now?"

"Fine, but I'm not gonna rest until I've got you on the right side," Jiraiya told him a little bit sternly.

Naruto ate last of his food as well, "Whatever you say grandpa."

Jiraiya just gave the boy a gentle smile, "I hope you weren't trying to insult me when you said that. If we're being honest, I love it."

Naruto tried to keep himself from smiling too, but he just couldn't, "Whatever...you wanna watch a movie or something."

Jiraiya didn't see why not, "Sounds great. Let's go see if we can't find something good."

* * *

Han had been busy covering his ass ever since the meeting with the Nine Kings. Thanks to that damn call, there was no way that he could sell any stolen art he had at the moment. People had heard about Naruto getting called in and questioned about the art, which was all it took for people not to touch anything Han had. All of his usual clients took the questioning to mean that the cops were looking at him and that made selling anything nearly impossible.

Han was in his apartment on the phone with one of his clients right now trying to convince him everything was okay, "I'm telling you, there's nothing to worry about. This is just a little storm that's gonna blow over and then I'll get you the piece, alright?"

A some kind of response was heard on the other side and Han looked relieved, "That's fantastic, thank you so much Sai. I promise that we'll be in contract very soon."

Deidara could see his boss was in a lot of distress right now, "Sorry you have to deal with all this man, I know it's gotta suck."

"Suck doesn't begin to cover it," Han stated, "I've got a decent amount of cash saved up so hopefully I won't have to go crawling to Kakuzu for a loan."

Deidara tried to console him, "At least it really couldn't get much worse."

Han heard a knock on the door and went to answer it, "I hope you're right, because I really don't feel like putting up with any more of this."

He opened the door to see a very angry man standing in front of him, "Can I help you sir?"

The man slipped past Han and started to look around his apartment, "Yeah, you can explain to me why my art's not hanging up in a museum and getting the recognition it deserves."

Han was already having a bad a feeling about this, "Look, whoever you are, I really don't know what you're talking about."

The man turned to Han, "The name is Otoko, and don't you dare bullshit me! I know you're the one who had my painting stolen before it could be hung up in the museum!"

Han could see this wasn't going to end well, "So Otoko, do you have any proof that I stole your painting?"

Otoko got right up in Han's face, "I got a call from some guy, he wouldn't say his name, that told me you have something that belongs to me. I'm not leaving until you tell me where my painting is, and I will call the cops if you aren't quick about it."

Han shoved the man away, "This is my home. If I wanna throw your ass out of here I will."

Otoko wasn't taking no for an answer, "Even if throw me out, you won't be able to throw out the entire Konoha police department!"

There was only one thing left for Han to do, "Then I guess you've left me no choice. Just keep in mind, I didn't want things to go down this way."

It suddenly became very apparent to Otoko just how much larger Han was then him, "Hey now, I didn't mean to offend,"

Otoko didn't finish the sentence, as Han had already smacked him hard in the mouth and then even harder on his temple. Needless to say, Otoko wouldn't be waking up for a while. Han leaned down and took the phone off from Otoko, "At least he's not bleeding. That means I don't have to clean anything up."

Deidara looked at the unconscious artist, "So what do you want to do with him?"

Han had been thinking over that very thing, "Kill him, but don't do it here. Find a way to make sure the body won't be found."

Deidara was wondering why he took the phone, "What are you gonna do with that?"

Han put it in his pocket, "Give it to Naruto so that he can give it to his people. Mr. Artist here said that someone called him and told him that I had his painting. If someone really did call him I'll bet that Naruto can find out who. At least I hope he can, or I'm going to look very suspicious."

Deidara hadn't thought about that, "This guy really seems to wanna fuck with you."

Han had already gotten out his own phone, "Let's just hope my friend believe me about all this. Have fun with the body."

Deidara was already moving it, "I'm going to turn this third rate hack into true art."

* * *

"I knew it! You're playing us like some cheap violin," Yugito screamed as Han finished telling his story to other Kings. Naruto had wanted to get the kings together as soon as Han had called him. As far as he was concerned, this was the next move of whoever was after the them.

Yugito though it was something else entirely, and Han wasn't happy about it, "What do I have to gain from this? If this crap keeps up, my cash flow is gonna be nonexistent! Naruto, will you talk some sense into her?"

Naruto had just gotten there thanks to his meeting with Jiraiya, Fu was in the same boat but with her uncle Kakuzu, and he was not looking forward to jumping into this pile of shit, "He's right Yugito, there's nothing he gains from this."

"I wouldn't be so quick to say that," Yagura said, cutting off Naruto, "Whenever an artist dies, the price of his art sky rockets. How do we know Han didn't set this all up so that he could kill Otoko and get more for his painting?"

Han was insulted, "I wouldn't do something like that! We all agreed, no unnecessary death that would bring trouble onto the Nine Kings."

"Maybe this is all just a ruse so that you could kill him and your fellow Kings couldn't punish you?" Utakata suggested.

Han looked like steam was about to come out of his ears, "After everything I've done for you people, you're gonna turn on me at the slightest hint of trouble? I can't believe you pricks."

Fu was on Han's side, "Do you guys know how crazy you all sound? There's no way Han would do all this for a little extra cash. It's not like he was hard up for money, in fact he didn't start losing money until all this got started. The extra cash he'd make from the painting wouldn't make up for the money he's lost."

Yugito still wasn't convinced, "Maybe he's just an idiot."

Han clenched his fist in rage, "Why you stuck up little,"

Naruto couldn't believe Yugito said that, "Dammit Yugito, there's no reason to talk like that! You, Yagura, and Utakata have not reason not to trust Han. These accusation our are ridiculous. I had Han take Otoko's phone to Shikamaru after he called me and guess what Shikamaru found? Otoko did get a call from a prepaid cell phone, which means we can't track it."

Utakata didn't see why that mattered, "So what? The first call was made from a couple of druggies phones."

"If Han wanted to kill Otoko, why would he bother to call him and have the guy show up at his apartment? He could just kill him and get rid of the body so that we'd never even know he killed the guy," Naruto reasoned.

Bee rapped, "Hey yo! On this, I am with Naruto!"

Gaara saw the logic in it too, "Everything you're accusing Han off makes little to no sense. You should all think this through more before opening your mouths."

Yagura figured they'd better just move on, "Okay then Naruto, why do you think this guy switched from using other peoples phones to just using a prepaid?"

Naruto was pretty sure he had an answer for that too, "Because we couldn't have tracked down a prepaid phone. This guy wants us to know he's coming for us. He wants us scared and fighting each other so that he can get us weak. If we're not careful he'll just wait till we're at our weakest and then make us his bitch. Now all of you, get back to your people and make sure everything you've got is secure. Something tells me things are only gonna get worse from here."

All of seemed to be watching each other closely, but left to do as Naruto said. Fu was the only one who walked up to Naruto with a bag over her shoulder, "So you ready to take me to your place? Don't forget, you need to work up my appetite for that breakfast you promised me."

Naruto felt weak in the knees, "Man you're awesome."


	3. The Power of Regret

Hello everyone, are you ready for the latest installment of Nine Crimes, Nine Kings? I teased you a little bit in the first chapter with something Kakashi did years ago that he's ashamed of. I'm assuming most of you are wondering what Kakashi is so ashamed of, and you'll find out what it is during this chapter. I'm very eager for you guys to read this, so I think I'll just get to it.

* * *

Kakashi listen carefully to everything Naruto told him over the phone. After what had been the greatest night of Naruto's life and delicious breakfast, he called Kakashi to filled him on what happened. According to him, the call Otoko had gotten was too short for Shikamaru to even try and trace it, which meant not only could they not figure out who called, they couldn't figure out where the call had been made from either. So basically, they still had nothing.

He leaned back in his chair and sighed, "Great, so we're still chasing our own tail?"

Naruto couldn't have put it better himself, "_More or less, yeah. I don't know if Jiraiya called you and filled you in on what we talked about."_

"Jiraiya and I still don't really talk all that often. He still hasn't forgiven me for...well, you know," Kakashi informed him.

Naruto didn't understand that at all, "_Oh come on, I if could forgive you then anyone should be able to."_

Kakashi wished it were that simple_, _"Jiraiya still thinks you couldn't have formed the Nine Kings without me."

Naruto could kind of see where Jiraiya was coming from on that one, "_There is a little truth to that, but it was my choice in the end. He can't blame you for helping me."_

"He can and he does," Kakashi countered, "But that's not the issue right now. What we need to worry about is finding out who's gunning for your job. So why don't you fill me in on everything you and Jiraiya talked about."

Naruto tried to remember everything Jiraiya had told and gave Kakashi the shortened version of it. To be honest there wasn't much Kakashi could work with, "_I guess none of that really helps you figure out who we're looking, does it?"_

Kakashi was starting to get really frustrated, "Kind of hard to find a guy when the only clue we has is that he's a doctor. I'm gonna need a some to figure this out."

Naruto knew who he had in mind, "_Hopefully she doesn't give you too much of a hard time."_

Kakashi gave a deep sigh, "Yeah, hopefully. Looks like it's time for me to go and clean up your mess. Wish me luck."

Naruto knew Kakashi could never pass up a chance bust his chops, "_Very funny Kakashi. Good luck."_

Kakashi hung up phone and woman walked past him. She had brown hair, which matched her eyes, two purple rectangles on her cheeks that no one had ever been brave enough to ask her about, and she was wearing black suit pants with a suit jacket. Her name was Rin Nohara, and she was one of Konoha's most feared detectives.

Kakashi timidly walked up to her as if he was just testing the waters, "Um, hey Rin."

Rin sat down at her desk and didn't even look at him. She just gave him a one word greeting, "Kakashi."

Kakashi winced at how cold she was being, "So you're still mad at me huh?"

Rin took out some paperwork and began to sort through it, "It was four years ago Kakashi, I'm not mad anymore. I've just decided that we should just be co workers, nothing more."

Kakashi hung his head, "We used to be so close Rin. You, me, Obito, and Captain Namikaze had the highest case closer rate in the history of the precinct."

Rin just kept on messing with her paperwork, "That was then Kakashi, and this is now. The Captain is dead, Obito was striped of his rank, and you did something that was basically spitting on Minato's grave."

"I can't deny that everything you just said is true, so I won't try to. I'll just tell that I need your help," Kakashi started to explain.

Rin looked up at him suspiciously, "What did you do?"

Kakashi leaned down closer to her and said in a low voice so that no one could hear them, "I didn't do anything. It's Naruto, he and some of his friends need our help."

It looked like he finally had Rin's attention, "Are you talking about the friends I think you're talking about?"

Kakashi was glad she already knew about the Kings. She cared too much about Naruto to say anything, which made this easy, "Yes I am. Someone's causing a lot of trouble for them and if it keeps up, Naruto could end up in prison...or worse yet, dead."

Rin didn't need to hear anything else, "What do you need?"

"Wow, that was fast," Kakashi noted.

Rin was already up and putting away her papers, "If it's to help Naruto, then I'm in. The fact that you've protecting him all this time is the only reason I'm even still willing to talk to you."

Kakashi could live with that, "Let me fill you in on everything we've got so far. Just gonna warn you now, it's not a lot."

Rin listened to Kakashi give his little story as she put on her coat, "You weren't kidding. You've really got your work out for you. Actually, I guess it's more like we've got our work cut out for us. I think the best place to start is with Han."

Kakashi got a little defensive, "Don't tell me you think Han's a traitor too?

Rin could see she needed to elaborate, "No, I don't think he's a traitor. However, based on what you to me, I think that someone who works for the Nine Kings is. This doctor must be paying somebody for information. Since Han is the only one who's been attacked so far, it seems likely that one of his men is behind all this."

Kakashi was becoming very glad he'd asked Rin to help him, "Alright, guess we'll go and see Han first then."

Yamato talked over with a tall man who was wearing a bright green suit and had black bowl cut hair, "Hey, what are you guys talking about?"

Kakashi thought up a quick lie, "We've gotten a small lead on the stolen art. Since our precinct still has jurisdiction, me and Rin were just gonna go and check it out."

Yamato heard that and he got excited, "Take me with you."

Kakashi couldn't let him do that, "That's a negative Yamato, you won't be going anywhere near where we are. Since Kurenai filed that complaint, you aren't allowed to do anything that might relate even a little bit to Naruto. You would lose your job and it would get the department in hot water if you came with us."

Yamato desperately to argue, but he knew Kakashi was right, "You guys better not miss anything."

Kakashi was gonna say something but Rin decided to handle it, "Yamato, we've got so much more experience with this stuff that it would make your head spin. We're better suited for this than you are, so don't try and tell us what to do."

Yamato could only stand there dumbfounded, "Sorry, I wasn't trying to offend you."

Kakashi had to fight to keep from laughing, "It's alright Yamato, you just stay here with Guy and work on something else."

Guy, the man with the green suit, exclaimed, "Yosh, Kakashi is right. Come young Yamato, let me teach you the way a true detective conducts an investigation!"

Yamato was skeptical, but didn't say anything so he wouldn't offend Guy, "Alright I guess. What's the worst that could happen?"

The two of them walked away with Kakashi feeling a little bit guilty, "He has no idea what he's in for."

Rin just had to giggle, "No, he really doesn't."

Kakashi was glad her mood improved, "So, you ready to go?"

Rin quickly remembered who she was talking to and put her cold demeanor back on, "Yeah, let's go."

Kakashi was really hoping he could get things at least somewhat back to the way they were. Back to the good old days.

_Flashback-24 years ago_

_24 years ago, becoming a police officer had been a much easier process. It only took two years or so in the academy and then you could just take the exam and become a police officer. That's what Kakashi Hatake, a 21 year old man who had been following in father's footsteps in becoming a cop, had done. His father had been known for blowing a huge undercover operation and getting half a dozen people killed. After that he went into a dark depression and eventually ended up killing himself. Kakashi vowed that he would join the police force and redeem the Hatake name. _

_He was working under a department legend, Minato Namikaze. Minato had earned the nickname 'The Yellow Flash' because of the speed at which he was able to close a case and his blonde hair. The man may have only been 35 years old, but he still had Konoha's criminal underworld shaking in it's boots. _

_Along with working under Minato, he typically worked with two other people. There was Obito Uchiha, a young man who had decided not to become a businessman like the rest of his family and join law enforcement instead, and Rin Nohara, a girl who was out to prove that a woman could become a successful detective. The three of them had a small love triangle going on. Obito kept asking Rin out, but she just didn't love him that way, and Rin had asked Kakashi out once, but he really didn't think about Rin that way. It was kind of sad, but that was just the way things were. _

_Minato had taken the three of him under his wing and was doing his best to guide them through all the pitfalls of being a cop. All of them were in their favorite diner getting something to eat and listening to Minato tell them all about Naruto, his new little bundle of joy, "He's adorable. Little guy got my hair and my blue eyes, but he got his mothers face. Thank god for that, because she's a lot better looking than I am. Man, he's just so tiny too. I was afraid that I was gonna break him for god's sake."_

_Rin squeaked with joy, "Oh, he just sounds so cute! When can we meet him?"_

_Minato took a sip of his coffee and said, "After you're all done with your shifts and I've finished up looking into the Fugaku case, then we can head over to the house and visit with Naruto and Kushina."_

_Obito liked the sound of that, "This is gonna be great. So um...how is my cousin's case coming along?"_

_Minato knew that Fugaku's death had been particularly difficult for Obito. The Uchiha had been very close with his cousin, "Like you, I don't buy that he killed himself. Fugaku was shot through the heart, which isn't typical in a suicide. Most people would've put the gun barrel in their mouth or put it to their temple. Granted, some people will aim for the heart, but it's very rare. Plus, Obito told me that the suicide note didn't sound anything like Fugaku. It just doesn't add up."_

"_I don't know why Grandpa Madara was so adamant that it was a suicide. Fugaku just wasn't that type of guy," Obito declared. Then he realized he was getting worked up, "Sorry, I'm rambling here. I'll be sure to come by and see the baby."_

_Rin grabbed Kakashi's arm, "You're gonna come too, right Kakashi?"_

_Kakashi decided not to be the odd man out, "Sure, I've got nothing better to do."_

"_In that case, I'll see you guys later tonight at my place," Minato said as he flagged down the waitress to pay for everything._

_All of them got up to leave and Minato asked Kakashi, "Hey, can you hang back for a second? I've got something I want to talk to you about."_

_Kakashi watched the other two leave and turned to Minato, "Did I do something wrong?"_

"_No, no, nothing like that," Minato assured him, "Kushina and I were just thinking about who we wanted to be Naruto's godfather."_

_Kakashi was little relieved, "Oh, well who were you thinking? Jiraiya maybe?"_

_Minato knew that be his first thought, "Nah, Jiraiya's too old to be raising a baby. We were thinking someone younger. Someone that we've come to view as family."_

_Kakashi just kept guessing, "Is it Rin?"_

_Minato could see he wasn't going to get it, "Let me just cut to the chase. You see Kakashi, we were hoping that you would be willing to be Naruto's godfather."_

_Kakashi nearly fainted, "Me...of all the fucking people on earth, why me?!"_

_Minato had a feeling that would be his reaction, "Because we trust you. I know you grew up without any parents for most of your childhood, so you know how hard it is to be alone. There's no way you'd ever let another person go through that."_

_Kakashi started to breath hard, "Are you sure about this?"_

_Minato was more than sure, "Kushina and I already have you marked as who gets custody of him if, god forbid, both of us die."_

_Kakashi had no idea what to say, "I'm...um...honored I guess. I really don't…"_

_Minato put his hand on Kakashi's shoulder, "Let's stop worrying about it for now. Just go to work and I'll see you tonight."_

_Kakashi just watched all of his friends leave. It was all so surreal to him. Minato trusted him with his son's life and he was working with two people he could call his friends. Things were looking good for him._

_Flashback End_

That was a long time ago. Everything seemed to be perfect then, but it hadn't lasted long. Kakashi just wished desperately that he could just turn back the clock to that day. There were so many things he could change, so many things he could prevent...but that just wasn't possible. The past was the past and Kakashi was just gonna have to make due with what he had now. To be honest, he'd made a pretty decent life for himself. Now all he could do is try and keep what he had.

* * *

It didn't take long for them to get to Han's apartment, since the man didn't live far from the precinct. Rin was waiting for Kakashi in the car, as he was supposed to go and get a list of all of the people who worked for Han and where they could be found. Well not exactly all of them, just the ones who knew enough to screw Han over.

Rin thought about Kakashi while she waited. She'd thought about forgiving him so many times, but it was just so hard. Everytime she thought about what he'd done she just wanted to smack the shit out of him. Still, he had done a lot to try and make for his mistake. Maybe it was finally time for her to let Kakashi back into her life.

Kakashi opened the driver side door and Rin jumped a little bit. She had been very deep in thought, so the door had startled her, "Dammit Kakashi, don't scare me like that."

Kakashi sat down and put down a small notebook, "Sorry, I wasn't try to scare you. He gave up the names surprisingly easily. I guess he really wants to get this all done and settled so that he can get back to making money."

Rin picked up the notebook and looked at the names, "Not many people on this list. Only like four or five of them.

Kakashi had expected as much, "Han trusts very few people. You kind of have to, considering his line of work."

Rin figured she shouldn't complain, "I guess that just means we've just got less work to do. By the way, why does he always wear that big red hat and the mask? Doesn't the red suit make him stand out enough?"

Kakashi didn't see why it mattered, "His fashion choices aren't my concern. No one ever asks you about the purple marks on your cheeks.

Rin saw his point, "Alright, guess I'll leave it be for now. Hopefully we can end this thing fast and Naruto won't have anything to be worried about."

Kakashi was hoping the same thing, "That would be the best case scenario. Protecting Naruto is the most important thing to me."

Rin couldn't keep herself from saying, "Yeah, now it is. Too bad you didn't have that philosophy when Naruto first needed it."

Kakashi had to admit, that one stung. He just sighed and started up the car. There really wasn't anything that he could say that would make him feel any better at this point. His mind slowly started to drift into the past as he got back onto the road.

_Flashback-24 years ago_

_Just as they'd all planned, Kakashi, Rin, and Obito went with Minato to visit his newborn son. Kushina was very happy to have them over. She was the kind of person who loved to entertain. The moment she found out people were coming over, she started making a huge meal. Somehow, even after having had a baby only a weak ago, Kushina managed to make roast, mashed potatoes, roasted carrots, and gravy. That was even on top of having a small infant around. Minato really had married an amazing woman._

_Once all of them had gotten done eating diner, which had been absolutely delicious, they got right to visiting Naruto. Kushina's voice was full of glee as she lead them to the nursery, "Oh wait til you see this little guy. I'm warning you guys, the only man he's let hold him for long periods of time so far is his daddy. He seems to like girls better so far."_

_Kakashi muttered, "Must be a breast man, like his father."_

_Rin smacked him on the back of head, "Very funny Kakashi."_

_Kushina walked over to Naruto's crib and picked him up, "Aww, he just woke up. You can see his eyes and everything."_

_Rin couldn't wait anymore, "Oh, can I hold him? Please please please!"_

_Kushina didn't really want to, but she handed Naruto off to Rin all the same, "Look at those eyes. They're so big and blue. I've never seen that much hair on newborn before."_

_Obito found the kid pretty cute too, "Holy crap, he really does look just like you guys doesn't he?"_

_Minato walked up behind Rin and looked lovingly at his son, "Yeah, he really got the best of both us."_

_Naruto made small little noises in Rin's arms, "Are you talking to me? You've got such a cute little voice."_

_Obito wanted to hold him too, "Come on Rin, don't hog him all to yourself."_

_Rin made like she was gonna give him to Obito and then quickly turned to hand him to Kakashi, " Here you go Kakashi."_

_Everyone laughed and Obito gave a mock pout, "Come on Rin, you're such a tease."_

_Rin stuck her tongue out at him, "Yup, that's me. A great big tease."_

_Kakashi clearly had no idea what he was doing, which you could tell because of how nervous he was, "Am I um...am I doing this right?"_

_Naruto started to fuss so Kushina went over to help him, "You've gotta support his head a little more, like this."_

_She moved Kakashi's arm and put it so that Naruto's head was higher up. The infante started to calm down a bit, "Thanks Kushina."_

_Kushina rubbed Naruto's little head, "You've gotta stay calm Kakashi. Babies can tell when you get nervous and that makes them nervous."_

_Obito's phone range, which caused everyone to look up from the baby, "Sorry guys, it's my grandfather. I've gotta take this call."_

_He walked over to the corner and answered his phone. All of them started to look back at Naruto until they heard Obito say, "Grandpa, what the hell are you talking about...You can't be saying...Look I'm not going to…Would you let me talk for a second?"_

_Obito could see that he was getting loud, so he decided to leave the room. Rin turned to the others, "I'm gonna go and see what's wrong. You guys stay here with Naruto."_

_Kakashi watched them leave, still a little nervous about having Naruto in his arms. Kushina noticed that Minato had something under his his arm, "What's that sweetie?"_

_Minato pulled it up and looked at it, "I'm not sure. It was on the front porch when we got home. There's no return address on it or anything. I've got no idea who sent it."_

_Naruto started to fuss again and Kushina told Kakashi, "He's probably just hungry. I've got a bottle of breastmilk in the fridge, you should go and get it for him."_

_Kakashi could hear Minato ask Kushina as he walked away, "So do you think I should open it?"_

_As he turned around to ask them a question, he heard some kind of small explosion and was sent flying backwards, crashing into a wall. Kakashi could only open one eye and his face felt like it was burning horribly. _

_Rin and Obito ran inside and were screaming about something, but Kakashi didn't know what it was about. Thanks to the explosion, he couldn't hear anything. The volume of the blast must have temporally damaged his eardrums. _

_He could feel Rin was desperate dabbing his face with a towel. Obito ran into the nursery, which was blazing thanks to explosion. Clearly that explosion had come from the package, but that was all Kakashi was able to figure out. The last thing Kakashi saw before he passed out was Rin picking up Naruto, who didn't look to be in great shape either. After Kakashi saw that, all he saw was black._

_Flashback end_

Kakashi lost more than just one of his eye's that day. The package contained a pipe a bomb that killed both Minato and Kushina instantly. Since there had been no return address and no one had seen who left the package, law enforcement had never been able to figure out who sent it. Just about every criminal in Konoha had reason to kill him, so that left with more leads than they could track down.

No one was the same after that day, but Obito had the hardest time. Apparently the call had been from his grandfather who was forbidding him from looking any more into his cousin's death. Between that and Minato's death, Fugaku's death had to remain a mystery.

It had always bothered Kakashi that they'd never brought Minato's killer to justice, but he had to focus on something else right now. He had to make sure that Naruto wouldn't suffer the same fate his father did.

* * *

After tracking down Han's men, Kakashi and Rin quickly found out just how secretive the men were. The two detectives had to prove they were trusted by Han before they could ask a single question. Finally, after practically prying their lips open, Kakashi and Rin discovered that all of the me were extremely loyal to Han. If any of them wanted to betray their boss, they were damn good at hiding it.

Since talking to them didn't turn up anything, Rin decided she'd go through their financials. Once again, nothing strange came up about any of names Han had given them. None of them showed even the slightest sign of coming into a large amount of cash. In fact, none of them showed any sign of coming into any cash at all. Just like their leader, this whole fiasco seemed to be losing them a lot of money.

Kakashi and Rin sat in the car looking rather dumbfounded at everything they'd gathered. Rin was lost at this point, "This just doesn't make any sense. Who other than these men knew so much about Han's bussenius?"

Kakashi could only think of one answer, "One of the other kings. Although I still don't think any of them have a motive to do this. They've got the perfect set up, so why mess with it?"

Rin tried to make another theory in her head, "Maybe one of the other king's accidentally let something about Han's business slip? If they made it look like the leak was in another king's organization, it would deflect all of the suspicion off from them."

"Jiraiya did say that we were dealing with someone who's incredibly smart," Kakashi reasoned, "If that's true then that true then a move like that is right up his alley."

Rin was still wondering one thing, "Let's assume that we're right and it is another King's employee. How do we figure out who it is?"

Kakashi had a very risky idea, "Why don't we see if Naruto will let us talk to the other kings? I know all of the Nine Kings are gonna be pist if we immply one of their men is a traitor, but it's a best lead we've got."

The idea may have been risky, but Rin loved it, "That means that we get to go and visit Naruto, right?"

Kakashi just kind of shrugged. He didn't get why she seemed to so excited, "Yeah, so what?"

Rin gave him a little glare, "You may get to visit Naruto all the time, but I don't."

Kakashi still didn't get it, "He was at the precinct yesterday, you could've seen him then. Hell, you could visit him whenever you want. Why don't ever just go and talk to him?"

Rin looked out the window with a sad look on her face, "I'm not friends with him like you are. He barely even knows me, so visiting him just feels awkward. I went over to his apartment once, but it didn't go well. First I tried talking about his dad, but he didn't really like that. Then I tried talking about work, but he I guess he wasn't really interested. We just couldn't find anything good to talk about. After that, I decided that I'd let him come to me rather than try and go to him."

Kakashi knew what he had to do, "There's no need for that. You're just not talking to him the right way. When we get to his apartment, I'll show teach what to say."

Rin was looking very curious, "You have to talk to him a certain way?"

"He's not very good at trusting people," Kakashi started to tell her, "You've say little things to let him know that you're not there to judge him or try and change him. Talking about Minato and the department make him feel like you're there to try and save him or something."

Rin saw one problem with that, "But what about Jiraiya? Every time I talk to him he tells me all about how he wants to try and save Naruto."

Kakashi could easily explain that, "At first Naruto just put up with that because he needed Jiraiya's help. The two of them eventually got so close that Naruto didn't care about Jiraiya pestering him."

Rin looked rather hopeful, "Maybe he and I can get that close."

"You could've been that close to him a long time ago if you'd come to me about it," Kakashi pointed out.

Rin crossed her arms, "You know why I couldn't see you."

Kakashi told her desperately, "That was a long time ago Rin. I've changed since them. I'm not saying that we have to be friends right away, but at least let me show who I've become."

Rin was mulling it over in her head. She'd been rather lonely without Kakashi and Naruto being in her life. Then there was Obito, who hadn't spoken to her in years. It was unlikely she'd ever get to see him again. It really felt like she could let people back in again, "Well...I guess it couldn't hurt to give you a shot. Just remember, if I don't like what I find,"

Kakashi didn't need her to finish, "Okay, I get the idea. So are you ready to go and see Naruto?"

Rin broke into a large grin, "Hell yes, start the car already!"

Kakashi was smiling as well, but you couldn't see it under his mask. He was glad that he was getting Rin into Naruto's life. Rin cared so much about the blonde, she deserved to get to know him. She deserved it a lot more than Kakashi anyways, after what he'd done.

_Flashback_

_After the explosion, Kakashi and Naruto were rushed to the hospital. Both of them had taken plenty of damage from the blast desperately needed medical attention. The left half of Kakashi's face was horribly disfigured, having been both burned from the flames and half ripped of by the bomb. Although the doctors had done what they could, the left half of his face would likely never look the same again._

_From what little bit Kakashi had heard about Naruto, the poor baby was in surgery right now. It was gonna be touch and go with him for a while. The doctors weren't even sure if he was going to survive or not. Kakashi didn't know if he was more afraid of, Naruto dying...or him surviving. _

_If Naruto lived then Kakashi would have custody of him. The idea of having a kid was something that scared the ever living shit out of Kakashi. He would be a terrible father, he just knew that he would. There was no way he could raise a baby. So what would he do if Naruto survived? _

_Of course he wanted Naruto to survive, he wasn't a monster. He just had to think of something to do with the kid if he did live. Maybe Rin would be willing to raise him? Oh who was he kidding? There was no way he could ask her to do that, she had a life of her own life to live. What the hell was he gonna do?_

_As he was trying to think this whole thing through, a doctor walked into the room, "Excuse me, are you Kakashi Hatake?"_

_Kakashi struggled a little bit to talk with his bandages on, "That's what it says on my charts."_

_The doctor looked at a clipboard he was holding, "Glad to see we found you so easily. So Naruto's condition has improved quite a bit. It's looking like more and more like he's going to survive."_

_Kakashi felt both relieved and extremely afraid, "Have you told anyone else about this yet?"_

_The doctor shook his head, "No, I came to you first."_

"_Good, please don't tell anyone about Naruto until you're sure he's going to survive. I don't want to get their hopes up," Kakashi told him truthfully._

_The doctor could see the logic in that, "I've seen many families get their hearts broken after the best case scenario didn't pan out. I'll keep this under wraps until everything is certain."_

_Kakashi thanked the doctor and watched him leave. All the silver haired man could think about was how Naruto deserved so much better than him. Anybody would be a better father than he would!_

_That's when Kakashi got an idea, something really crazy. He looked around until finally he found his cell phone in his coat pocket. Thank god Rin left brought his old clothes back to him. Kakashi started to dial and put the phone up to his ear, "Hey Genma, it's Kakashi. Look, remember that favor you owe me? Well I'm calling it in. I'm gonna send you some papers and ask you to fuck with them a little bit. Don't ask why, just do as I say. It's going to be giving you very specific instructions."_

_Kakashi gave Genma the clearest instructions he could, making sure that every detail was exact. Genma soon realized what Kakashi was asking him to do, "Are you saying you want to get a fake death certificate for a newborn?"_

_Kakashi hated how cruel that sounded, "That's about the size of it, yes."_

_Genma never expect something like this out of Kakashi, "First, whose kid is this? Second, why are you doing this?"_

_Kakashi felt like he was explaining this whole thing to himself too, "Don't worry about who's kid it is. As far as why I'm doing it...let's just say that the kid is better off being raised by foster parents."_

"_Oh, is their a really bad father in the picture?" Genma asked him._

_Kakashi couldn't think of a better way to put it, "You pretty much hit the nail on the head. So will you do it?"_

_Genma was more than willing to, "Like you said, I owe you a favor. I'll start working on it, talk to you later._

"_Ya, talk to you later. Thanks again," Kakashi said before he hung up the phone._

_What Kakashi was going to do was illegal, insane, and maybe even a little wrong, but he still felt it was the best thing to do for Naruto. He just prayed that he was right about this.._

page break

Kakashi pulled into the parking lot of Naruto's apartment building and Rin immediately started asking questions, "So how do I start up a conversation with him? Oh, and what do we talk about? Oh, and,"

Kakashi cut her off, "Cam down Rin, you'll freak him out if you get too nervous. All you have to do is ask him about his girlfriend and listen. Hell, as long as you ask him about anything but his father and his job, you're golden. Trust me Rin, just be yourself and he'll love you."

Rin had a nervous smile on her face, "I hope you're right. So do we need a game plan or do we just head in?"

Kakashi just had to roll his eyes, "No need to overthink it, we're just gonna head in."

Rin took a deep breath, "Okay then, lets go."

The two of them got out of the car and headed up to the apartment. Kakashi knocked on the door and Naruto answered it, "Hey Kakashi, what's up man? Oh, hello to you too Rin."

Rin couldn't help but notice he didn't sound as excited when he said her name, "Hey Naruto, we've been looking into what happened with Han and only one theory we've got seems to make any sense."

Naruto warmed up to her a little bit at that, "Well then come on in, tell me what you guys got."

The two of them walked in and gave Naruto a quick rundown of what they'd found. He could feel his stomach sinking as they kept talking, "You want me to tell the kings that one of them has a traitor in their organization?"

Kakashi knew he'd be nervous, "Yes we do. Unless you can think of some other way to figure out who's leaking information, it's the best option."

Naruto knew there was no other options, "I hate it when you're right. The thing is, I don't know if I want to get us all together three days in a row. That'd look suspicious to any outsiders. I'll send out a group text saying that one of the Nine King's operation has been compromise. If I say that it could even be my people, it might just keep the others from getting too pissed off."

Rin couldn't see any issues with that, "Smart move. Give your current situation, it's the best solution."

"Glad you approve," Naruto said while he texted, "So was their anything else you guy's needed?"

Rin knew that if she wanted to get closer to Naruto, now was that time, "There's nothing else that we need at the moment. We've got some extra time though, so I thought we might talk for a bit."

Naruto gave her a nervous glance, "What did you wanna talk about?"

Rin went with the first thing that came time to mind, "Kakashi mentioned that you're seeing someone. Why don't you tell me about her?"

That was something Naruto was happy to talk about, "It's actually another one of the Kings and her name if Fu. She got this crazy green hair that everybody thinks is fake, but trust me, the carpet matches the drapes."

Rin blushed a little bit but laughed, "That's a little more than I needed to know, but go on."

"Well she's smart, funny, and drop dead gorgeous. She's actually from a small town not far from here," Naruto said, starting to ramble.

Kakashi was glad to see Rin got Naruto to open up to her a little bit. He was glad to see the people in his life were starting to come together again. Four year ago Kakashi life was falling apart, but now it was really starting to get rebuilt. Now he just had to make sure not to screw it up like he did back then.

_Flashback-Four years ago_

_It had been twenty years since Minato and Kushina had died and Kakashi's life had changed quite a bit since then. He now wore a mask to cover up the damage that had been done to his face and an eyepatch to cover his now destroyed left eye. The only time he ever took the mask off was in the shower, and that was just so that he could properly clean his face._

_Obito had been kicked off from the police force about two years ago for harming a suspect during interrogation, although not many people knew the full details of what had really happened on that day. Only Kakashi and Rin knew the truth about the interrogation, but all they'd ever say when someone asked about it was, 'He was doing what he felt he had to do.'_

_Both Kakashi and Rin were detectives now and had the highest case closer rate in the entire precinct. Things had gotten slightly romantic between the two of them, Rin must have wore him down over the years, and Kakashi was actually considering asking her out._

_Kakashi really didn't have anything to complain about right now. Occasionally he would think back to Naruto and he honestly hoped that the boy's life was going as well as his was. It had been twenty years since Kakashi had Naruto declared dead and put into foster care. Having Genma forge the papers turned out to be the easy part. Actually getting him out of the hospital and getting everyone to believe he was dead ended up being the hard part. Somehow Kakashi managed to pull it all off though. _

_Once or twice he'd thought about tracking Naruto down, but it just didn't seem like a good idea. Kakashi had done all of this because he felt Naruto was better off without him. Naruto would live his life and Kakashi would live his own. There's no way the two of them would ever cross paths. Or at least that's what Kakashi had thought._

_For the most part it had been a very typical morning for Kakashi. He wrote up some reports, made a few calls, and got up once to get some coffee with a donut. Everything was going fine until Rin frantically ran up his desk, "Kakashi, you're not gonna believe this!"_

_Kakashi put his coffee down and raised his eyebrow, "What's the big deal Rin? You look like you've seen a ghost or something."_

_Rin felt like she had, "That's just it Kakashi. If I didn't know any better, I'd say I just saw Minato."_

_Kakashi felt his blood run cold, "What are you talking about?"_

_Rin pointed towards the holding cell in the corner in the precinct, "They just pulled in kid off the street who was about 20 years old, apparently he was trying to steal some food from a gas station, and he looks just like a younger version of Minato."_

_Kakashi just repeated the age, "Twenty?...he's twenty years old?"_

_Rin thought out loud, "That's how old Minato's son would be...the kids name is even Naruto...I guess it's just wishful thinking that it could be him, huh?"_

_Kakashi quickly agreed, "Yeah, it's wishful thinking. There's gotta be a dozen Naruto's running around in this city. Maybe he's distantly related to Minato and it's just a family name?"_

_Rin thought about it for a second, "Huh, I guess that could be it...I know it couldn't be that Naruto, I saw the death certificate myself."_

_Kakashi could barely ask, "So did he um...say anything?"_

"_When I walked by he asked me why everyone was joking around and calling him Minato," Rin said, not noticing how nervous Kakashi was getting, "I told him who Minato was and that he looked just like him. After that he asked if Minato ever had a son. He's a foster kid who doesn't even know his last name, so I think he was hoping maybe Minato was his dad or something. Of course I had to break it to him that Minato's only son was dead. Once he heard that he just kind of got real quiet and back the other eight people in his cell."_

_Kakashi was a little impressed by that, "Nine people in one holding cell? Must be a busy day…When you told him who Minato was, did you tell him about us?"_

_Rin didn't understand why he was asking that, "You were the original Naruto's godfather, you definitely came up in the conversation."_

_Kakashi tried to keep from sounding angry, "Why did you talk to this guy anyways? He's just some random thief with no family."_

_Rin gave a little huff, "Well excuse me for being nice for some poor kid who was stealing so that he wouldn't starve to death."_

_Kakashi waited until she left and then snuck over the holding cell. He wanted to keep the kid from seeing him, so he just got close enough to confirm that Naruto was really the one in the cell. Once Kakashi saw his hair, his face, and those deep blue eyes, he knew that it was really Naruto._

_Apparently Kakashi hadn't done a good enough job staying out of sight, because he heard Naruto call, "Hey, are you that Kakashi guy the girl was talking about?"_

_Kakashi's skin started crawling right away, but he went up to the bars of the cell anyways, "I'm Detective Hatake, is their something you need?"_

_Naruto looked at Kakashi carefully, "So you were supposed to be my godfather?"_

_Kakashi could feel himself starting to sweat, "Sorry, but the only person I've ever been a godfather for is Naruto Namikaze."_

"_Do you think I'm stupid Kakashi?" Naruto questioned him, "I'm not like your friend who won't admit to herself that you did something terrible."_

_Kakashi leaned in close to him, "Now you listen here. I've got no idea what you're talking about."_

_Naruto grabbed his shirt, but Kakashi didn't yelp to make sure no noticed them, and he whispered, "I'm gonna ask you this once and only once. Don't lie to me because I'll be able to tell...was Minato Namikaze my father and were you supposed to be my godfather?"_

_Kakashi was looking him right in the eye. Hey just couldn't lie to him, "Yes, both of the things you just said are true. When your parents were killed you were horribly injured. I was supposed to become your father, but I knew nothing about raising a child. So, I had a friend mix some stuff around so that you were declared dead and put into foster care."_

_Naruto let go of Kakashi's shirt, "You're the reason I ended up dealing with a bunch of asshole foster parents? For fucks sake, I spent half my life being beaten by them and the other half begging them for food!"_

_Kakashi tried to quiet them down, "I just figured that you're life would be better without me in it."_

_Naruto's hands were shaking, "My life would've better if I'd had someone looking after me."_

_Kakashi couldn't think of anything to say. He just started to walk away and heard Naruto scream at him, "You son of a bitch! You ruined my life!"_

_Flashback end_

That had been the worst night of Kakashi's life. He'd gotten hammered and that night and told Rin the truth about what happened and she later told Jiraiya as well. Needless to say, she stop asking him out after that. Kakashi had to help Naruto start the Nine Kings to get the blonde to even start talking to him again. It took another year before the two would actually become friends. Now after four years Rin was talking to him again as well.

He could only hope that nothing would come along and wreck things for him again. Kakashi had been doing his best to do everything right, the only thing left for him to do was pray it would be enough.


	4. Any Chance

Hey there ladies and gentlemen, I'm happy to see you're all back for the next installment of my little crime story. I wanna thank you all for reviewing, following, and favoriting my story. Every time I open up my email and see all of notifications from fanfiction, I get so excited and that's all because of you guys. Now I just wanted to say that before we got started.

* * *

It had been a lonely night for a young dark haired man by the name of Zaku. He was sitting alone in a bar, trying to drink himself into oblivion. His finance Kin had kicked him out two nights ago because she found out that he'd fucked one of the stripers from his bachelor party. It didn't help that he'd slapped her on his way out.

Right now his only friend was the bartender who made sure that his glass was always filled with brandy on the rocks. He downed another drink and sighed, "You get drunk and fuck one piece of strange and all of the sudden you're the devil. I tell ya man, women."

Another young man with brown hair sat down next to him and asked, "Would you feel the same way if she'd been the one who cheated on you?"

Zaku responded with a slur, "Hey, I can keep my woman satisfied and in line. Who do you think you are anyways? Butting into my business…"

"My name is Kankuro," the brown haired man said as he pulled out his wallet, "And I'm just a guy who wanted someone to talk to."

Zaku could care less about talking, "Well why don't you go and fuck off. All you're gonna do is kill my buzz."

Kankuro pulled out a fifty dollar bill and put it on the counter, "I was hoping to help your buzz, if you'll let me anyways."

Zaku had a very quick change of heart, "I guess a little company couldn't hurt. So what did you wanna talk about?"

Kankuro's phone went off and he started to pull it out of his pocket, "Well both of us seem to enjoy the company of beautiful women. I suppose that would we could talk about."

Zaku watched the bartender fill his glass back up, "Beautiful women just so happen to be my favorite topic. Do you get a ton of pussy? Back before I got a fiance I did."

"I did okay for myself, but I've got a serious girlfriend now," Kankuro said before he dropped his phone, "Dammit!"

Zaku bent down to pick it up, giving Kankuro a split second to slip something in his drink, "I'll get that for you. You'd better be careful or you're gonna bust this thing."

Kankuro had to fight from smiling as Zaku handed him the phone, "Yeah, I wouldn't want to have to replace this thing. Looks like I got a text from my girlfriend. She wants me to go see a movie with her."

Zaku hated to see the man who was paying for his drinks go, "But you just got here man."

Kankuro waited until Zaku took a sip of his drink and then said, "Oh well, whatcha gonna do? Just keep the fifty, I'll buy your drinks for the night."

Zaku wasn't about to argue with that, "Well shit man, thanks."

Kankuro just started to walk out of the bar, "Don't worry about it. You're clearly having a rough day, so drink that brandy like it's your last."

Once Kankuro was out of the bar, he pulled out his phone to call his brother, "He Gaara, it's your bro. Zaku's gonna be dead before the morning's up. The herbs I used will make it look like he died of alcohol poisoning and the coroner won't be able to tell there was any foul play."

Gaara had a lot of respect for his brothers abilities and always made sure to acknowledge, "_Nice job Kankuro. Kin was willing to pay a king's ransom to see that bastard get what was coming to him."_

Kankuro was glad he could give Gaara some good news, because now he had to ask the hard question, "So did you or any of the other kings figure out who the traitor was?"

Gaara wished desperately that he could say yes, "_No, none of them found even the slightest indication that anyone who works for them was the traitor. Most of the kings didn't even mention Han's painting to anyone."_

Kankuro was hoping this could just be over already, "Well that sucks. Is there any chance that one of them could be lying?"

Gaara had already looked into that, "_I had Temari do some snooping around. All of the kings did exactly what Naruto asked them to do."_

Kankuro hated how complicated this whole thing was becoming, "Naruto better find this guy fast. Lord knows how long we've got before he moves on from Han and starts attacking the other kings."

Gaara was fearing that exactly same thing, "_Just be patient and have faith in Naruto. I'm sure he'll figure out who our oppressor is soon. I've gotta go Kankuro, but just sit tight for now."_

Kankuro said goodbye and hung up the phone, "Fine, I'll sit tight. Let's just wait and see who's next in this guys hit list. Good luck to that poor sap."

* * *

Yagura had been rather pissed off when Naruto texted him and accused his men of being traitors. However, there wasn't anyone in the Nine Kings dumb enough to cross Naruto. Doing that would end up putting a person six feet under. Even though he hated doing it, Yagura looked over every single person in his organization who had information that could screw over Han. None of them were the traitor, just as he'd expected. When Yagura saw Naruto again, he gonna give him a piece of his mind.

The King of Falsified documents was in his office right now, thinking over how he was going to handle all of the issues he was facing right now. He was still convinced that Han was trying to screw the other kings over. Yagura didn't believe that there was any doctor or traitor causing problems for the nine kings. No, it was just Han being a fool and Naruto being too trusting. It was going to take something pretty big to change Yagura's mind about this, and as fate would have it, something pretty big was about to happen.

Zabuza and Kisame knocked on the office door and went inside. Zabuza seemed pretty nervous, "Um Yagura...we've got a bit of a problem."

Yagura groaned, "Oh great, another fucking thing to worry about. Well, lay it on me. What the hell is it now?"

Kisame pulled out some papers and handed them to Yagura, "Well sir, the bank just sent us a some papers to confirm some transactions you were supposed to have made."

Yagura looked over the paper, "I never made any of these withdrawals. Not a single one of them."

Zabuza already knew that, "Well yeah, I kind of figured that out already. With all the various withdrawals, this guy took out a total of 304,562 dollars."

Yagura nearly had a heart attack when he heard that, "What?!"

Kisame had never seen Yagura this mad, "Now just calm down man,"

Yagura snapped, "Calm down? I just lost over 300,000 dollars!"

Zabuza didn't know what to say, "Look, in a situation like this, we've gotta make sure we're thinking straight."

Yagura just kept yelling, "How did they do it? How did these sons a bitches manage to get that much of my money?"

Kisame didn't know how to tell him this, "Hehe...you're not gonna believe this."

Yagura glared at him, "Try me."

Kisame gulped, "Well sir, they got into your account by using...falsified documents."

Yagura's eye started to twitch with rage, "Falsified documents? They used my own skill against me to steal my hard earned cash?"

Zabuza was starting to get a little scared of his boss, "As much as I'd love to sugarcoat it, that's pretty much exactly what happened. This guy had a bunch of documentation that let him get into your account. He was smart enough to go to the banks where you'd never been seen in person too."

Yagura didn't understand, "The only person who could make a fake document good enough to do something like this is me. I can't think of anyone else that would even be able to come close to pulling this off."

Kisame had thought about that, "You've gotta a point, but is there any chance that someone could take an old document you falsified and mess with it so that it can be used against you?"

Yagura thought about it for a second, "Well, it's not a complete impossibility. They'd need to have a lot of business experience to know how make the right changes though."

Zabuza had to suggest, "Hey, do you think that this could be the same guy that's messing with Han?"

Yagura hadn't thought about that, "A doctor just might have business knowledge to figure something like this out, or he may at least know the right people to do it for him."

Kisame really wasn't sure if he should say this, "So does that mean that you believe Han? Do you think that there really is someone coming after the kings?"

Yagura hated to admit it, "As much as I dislike the taste of crow, this does make it seem like Han was telling the truth."

"What the hell does the taste of crow have to do with anything?" Kisame asked.

Zabuza gave his partner a funny look, "Really? That's what you got out of that sentence?"

Things like this didn't even throw Yagura off anymore, "It just means that I'm admitting I'm wrong Kisame."

Kisame felt kind of dumb, "Oh...well why didn't you just say that?"

Yagura smacked his forehead, "For the love of god, will you two just leave so that I can call Naruto?"

Kisame and Zabuza could see that it was time to make their exit, "Of course sir, just call us if you need us."

Yagura sighed as got out his phone, "I swear, if those two weren't so good at killing people…"

* * *

Naruto had been in bed when he got the call for Yagura and he was actually pretty happy about it, for a couple of reasons. First, this was proof that Han wasn't lying and that someone really was taking on the kings. Second, this was actually a pretty decent lead to go off from. All they had to do now was figure out which one of Yagura's clients was the problem.

Yagura wasn't nearly as happy about all this. The only thing he cared about was that he'd lost a shit ton of money. Naruto promised Yagura that he'd do whatever he could to get him his money back, and he'd have to be very careful with what cash he had until then. He might have to go and see Kakuzu, who wouldn't cut him a deal even if he was Fu's friend.

it was just a few hours after the call and Naruto was in the back of his restaurant right now, which was where he ran all of his questionable business out of, talking to his assistant Hinata Hyuuga. Hinata was the heiress of Byakugan Investments, a company that used their knowledge about the stock market to buy and sell shares of various companies. For a long time they were the second biggest company in Konoha, but they were top dog now that United Sharingan Defense was going under.

Hinata was working her way through college right now and she managed Naruto's restaurant along with a couple other businesses to get some money and a little bit of experience. She made sure to be at the restaurant every time that Naruto was there. While she did know that Naruto was crazy about Fu, Hinata just couldn't help be crazy about him. Naruto was a great guy, even if he was a criminal.

Yes, Hinata knew that Naruto was a criminal, and she even knew he was the head of the Nine Kings. Hinata had been going through Naruto's cash flow long enough to tell he was taking in more money than he should be. No small town restaurant did this well, which meant he had to be laundering money. It became all the more noticeable when she started working for a couple of his friends and found they were doing the same thing.

Hinata eventually managed to work up the courage to confront Naruto about it, and he didn't even bother to to deny it. In fact, he even told her the entire truth about the real way he made most of his money. Naruto felt Hinata was 'Too smart to do something as stupid as ratting on him.' He was right too, as Hinata just couldn't bring herself to turn him in.

Naruto was telling Hinata his plan of action, "The first thing I did was have Yagura take all of the money out his accounts so that this guy can't get to it again."

Hinata knew there was logic in that, "We don't want him to lose anymore of his money than he already has, now do we?"

Naruto was pacing a little bit, "No, we don't. So now that I've got that done, I'm gonna have my guys find the banks tellers who handled the transactions. There's no guarantee that they'll remember the guy or that he handled all this stuff himself, but it's worth a shot."

Hinata asked him the obvious question, "So what if that doesn't work and you still can't find him?"

Naruto was really hoping it didn't come to that, "Then we're gonna have to go through almost every single person that Yagura's ever sold a fake document to, just to see what we can find. For all we know this guy could've bought those damn papers years ago, so even that is a longshot."

Hinata didn't like their odds on this, "You seem awfully excited about this so called 'Longshot.' Why are you so happy if we've got so little to work with?"

"A little is all I'm gonna need with the team I've got," Naruto said confidently, "If I tell them to do everything I just told you about, I'm positive they'll at least be able to give me something I can work with."

Hinata did know that Naruto's team was damn good, "So the are you going to call the kings now?"

Naruto felt it was too soon, "No, I need to think it through a little bit more. The plan isn't perfected enough for me to bet the lives of those I care about on it."

Hinata couldn't stop herself from frowning a little bit, "Yes, you need to make sure your lover is safe, don't you?"

Naruto knew about Hinata's feelings for him, "Come on Hinata. You know that I care about you too. The two of us would just never have worked out."

Hinata had heard this speech too many times, "I'm not an idiot Naruto. I know that Fu is prettier than I am and that you don't find me attractive."

Naruto couldn't let her think that, "What the hell are you talking about Hinata ? You're one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen. Don't get me wrong, for me Fu will always be the most gorgeous girl in the world, but you're amazing too. Not to be rude here, but you've got some of the best tits and one of the nicest asses I've ever seen. Top that off with a pretty face and you've got yourself one hell of a woman."

Hinata blushed at the way he was talking about her, "Oh...um...thank you Naruto. That's very sweet."

Naruto gave her a toothy grin, "Don't mention it. By the way, could you not tell Fu about everything I just said? She'd kick my ass for saying stuff like that."

Hinata supposed she could do that, "Don't worry Naruto, it'll be our little secret. Of course I'll have to get a raise in my paycheck at the end of the week."

Naruto put his hand on Hinata's shoulder and laughed, "You're beautiful, smart, and funny. Trust me Hinata, you're gonna attract a great guy one of these days. He's just not gonna be me."

Hinata was both filled with pride and sadness, "You're a really nice guy Naruto, even if hwat you do is considered a crime."

Naruto scratched the back of his head, "I have my moments. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got some friends to go and see."

Hinata was very sad to see him go. Naruto was such a good guy, why couldn't he be single? Oh well, she knew deep down that Naruto was right and she needed to move on. Fu and Naruto weren't breaking up anytime soon, so she was gonna have to find her own man. Who knew, maybe it would even be another one of the kings?

* * *

Kakashi nearly jumped for joy when Naruto called him and told him about the new lead he'd gotten on the mysterious doctor. After being absolutely lost for so long, it felt great to have something real to go off from. He'd gotten Rin as soon as he could and they started to head right to the closest bank where one of the withdrawals had been made from.

Rin gave Kakashi a little bit of a conversation in the car, mostly thanking him for his help with Naruto, and the two detectives managed to get to the bank very quickly. It was a pretty small place and the parking lot was almost totally empty. Kakashi doubted that the place would have security cameras, but he remained hopeful.

Once they got inside, Kakashi and Rin found that the bank's outside looked nothing its inside. The inside of the bank was rather high end and it clearly had extremely high security. It looked like a small fortress, with guards and vaults all around. Somehow, it didn't surprise Kakashi that this was the the kind of place Yagura stored his money. It was under the radar, but still very safe.

"It really doesn't surprise me that this is the kind of place where Yagura keeps his money," Kakashi said to Rin.

Rin could see what he meant, "Yeah, this place is perfect for him. Completely under the radar, but still very safe. He can hide a lot of money without to many eyes looking at it."

Kakashi nodded and walked up to the teller, showing her his badge, "Excuse me mam, I'm Detective Hatake and this is Detective Nohara. We're with the Konoha police department and we were wondering if we could ask you a few quick questions about a transaction that occurred here a couple of days ago?"

The woman smiled bright at him, like most bank teller she'd been trained to be friendly to everyone who came in, "Of course, as long as it doesn't involve any privileged in information, you can ask anything you like."

Rin couldn't see privileged information being a problem, "Is there any chance you remember a man by the name of Yagura stopping in here?"

The woman grinned, "Of course I remember him! His coming in was a bit of an event actually. Despite how much cash he keeps here, we've never had the pleasure of seeing him in person."

Kakashi got a little excited, "Is there any chance that you could describe the man to us? Hair color, hight, stuff like that?"

The woman thought for a second, "Well, he was about average height, had shortish white hair, and he was kind of skinny. Oh yeah, and he had these huge round glasses too."

Rin couldn't imagine a guy like that should be too hard to find, "Sounds like a pretty hard guy to miss. Now, do you guys have security cameras that saw the guy coming and going?"

The woman gave him a sympathetic look, "Sorry, are security tapes are erased every 24 hours so that we can record new ones. Recording a full a day of footage takes up a lot of memory, so we only bother to save it if anything really unusual happens."

Kakashi really couldn't fault them there, "Fair enough. I suppose your description will be enough. Thanks for your help."

The woman gave them a quick wave goodbye, "Not a problem detective, have a nice day."

Kakashi and Rin walked out and Rin had a small smile on her face, "Well that was easy. I mean there's no way that Yagura would forget someone like that."

Kakashi had to remind her, "That's assuming that whoever it is that's after the kings actually went in there himself. He could've sent someone else."

Rin was still optimistic, "Well he should be an easy guy to track down either way. The guy sounded pretty conspicuous looking."

On that, she and Kakashi could agree, "Yeah, let's go see if Yagura remembers anyone like that."

* * *

While the detectives were busy chasing their leads, Madara was setting up the next phase of his plan. He was of course the one who modified the papers that Orochimaru had used to rob Yagura blind. All the old man had to was find the paper Yagura had given him years ago and makes some simple changes to them. Well, they were simple to Madara, but they wouldn't have been all that simple to anyone else.

Now that he had the kings running around like chickens with their heads cut off, he had to get in contact with his family. Madara had to be certain that this plan actually had a chance of working before he told anyone about it, as he didn't want to look like a fool. Once he was sure, he called up his grandson Obito, even though he likely wouldn't be interested, and his great grandsons Sasuke and Itachi.

Sasuke and Itachi were Fukagu's sons, and they'd lost both their parents at a young age when their father killed their mother and then himself. Madara had no clue what the two of them did for a living, but it couldn't have been better than running their families company. Obito played himself off as a private investigator know, but Madara knew in reality he was a career criminal. The man made money doing things others didn't have the balls to do themselves. His experience as a police officer made him damn good at it too, as he knew exactly how to avoid getting caught.

He had the three of them in front of his bed right now, all three of them had the same dark hair and eyes that Madara did and they'd all come in nice clothing so that they wouldn't insult their grandfather. The only real way you could tell them apart was by looking at their hair and faces. Itachi had a thin face with thin with long hair, Sasuke's was a little chubbier and he had shorter more unkempt hair, and Obito had mid length hair and a face that was just a little bit chubbier than Sasuke's.

Madara was pleased that they all came, "Hello you three. It's good to finally see you again. I do hope you all have an active interest in saving our company."

Obito really didn't want to be here, so he asked rather crabbily, "Why in the hell did you make all of us take time out of our lives to talk about a company that's already dead?"

Madara scowled at his harsh words, "I see you still have no respect for the company your ancestors built Obito. Do you even care about everything they sacrificed to build this great empire?"

"To be fair grandfather, the companies days are number. It seems their sacrifices may have been in vain," Itachi reminded him. He was the older of the two brothers, and was the families current voice of reason.

Madara felt a little ridiculous after his grandson said that, "You have a valid point there. However, I have found the solution. I've found something that will undoubtedly save this company and make sure that it's always provided for."

Sasuke, the younger and more rash of the brothers, had a hard time believing that, "I think the company is a little too far gone at this point. Let's face it grandpa, it's time to cut our losses and move on."

Madara gave his great grandson the darkest glare he could manage, "Bite your tongue you brat! This company won't be dying now or anytime soon, because what I've got is foolproof. We're going to take over one of the greatest criminal organizations the world has ever seen. We're about to have complete control of The Nine Kings of Crime, and once we have it, one of you can take over as CEO of the the company and we'll launder the money we make from the The Nine Kings into The United Sharingan defense."

Obito nearly started laughing, "You must be joking. Grandpa, we don't have even close to enough power to take those guys. What are you gonna do, use are old factories to supply an army?"

Madara couldn't believe how little faith his grandchildren had in him, "Not every plan requires guns or knives. I've already begun to set everything in motion. For the past week or so, with the help of a friend, I've been strategically ruining the king's operations."

Now he had Itachi interests, "I see. That does change things slightly, I'll admit. However, I'm already running a business coning old fools out of their cash. For pete seek, I make 80,000 thousand dollars a month, nearly a million dollars a year, and that's a minimum. Why should I risk that on a something that's not even a sure thing?"

Madara didn't follow his logic, "A million a year? That's nothing compared to what I'm offering. You've got a chance to be one of the richest men in the world once it's all said and done. You can't be telling me that you're gonna pass that up?"

Itachi scratched his chin, "While that is a good point, I'm still just not sure."

Sasuke was starting to look more nervous than the others, "I think that Itachi's right. I'm making more than enough cash right now and I'm safe doing it. Why join the high mortality rate world of The Nine Kings if we don't have to?"

Madara felt Sasuke was sounding a little desperate, "You're sounding a little bit nervous here. Surely you could always use more money Sasuke. What do you do for a living anyways?"

"Officially I'm a private investigator," Sasuke said with a little sarcasm, "but of course that's bullshit. Basically, I'm a very special kind of fixer for very wealthy criminals. People pay me a very high price because of how high risk the kind of things I fix are. The kind of stuff I do, you can't hand off to some kind of third rate criminal."

Madara was very glad to find that out, "Now this is a skill that will come in handy. I'm assuming of course that you are with my on this, right Sasuke?"

Sasuke didn't know what to say, but luckily Itachi saved him, "I think I speak for all three of us when I say that we need time to think. This isn't something that we can decide on the fly grandfather."

Madara opened his mouth to argue, but quickly shut it. Perhaps it was smarter to just let them do this willingly. It's not like all three of them would say no. Just to be safe, Madara told them, "For the record, none of you will be at any real risk during this plan. I've seen to it that another person will be blamed for all of it."

Obito felt like he should inquire further, "What if the kings figure out who the guy is and interrogate him until he blabs on you? They'll come after you and fill your decrypted ass with bullets."

Madara had planned way in advance for that problem, "I've gained enough information to burry the Nine Kings. You have no idea what all I had to go through to get information. I had to sell and spend so much just to obtain some of it, but it was worth it in the end. If I die before this plan is complete, my assistant will open my personal safe and give this information to the police. I'd rather they die with me then live once I'm gone."

Sasuke clenched his jaw a little bit, but didn't say what he was thinking, "We'll take that into consideration. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to go and meet up with an old friend."

Madara looked a little disappointed, "That's too bad. What about you guys, Obito and Itachi? Will you stay with this old man for a little while longer?"

Obito had no desire to spend anymore time than he had to with the man, "Sorry, but I'm afraid I have business to attend to as well. Have a pleasant day though."

Itachi felt a little guilty, so he said, "I guess I could stay for half an hour, but I do have things I need to do today."

"Nice to see one of you still has time for me. You two are free to go I suppose," Madara said with slight irritation.

Obito and Sasuke both wanted to come back with some kind of smart remark, but they really did have things they had to do. They gave Itachi a small nod and then left Madara's bedroom. Sasuke got out his phone the moment they were out of Madara's hearing range and turned to Obito, "Before I make this call, just let me say that there's no way in hell I'd ever work for that senile old bag of wind."

Obito quickly agreed, "Same here. That guy's a real piece of work. I've never seen someone that greedy and egotistical."

Sasuke dialed the phone and put it to his ear, "Tell me about it."

Obito was too curious not to ask, "Who are you calling anyways?"

Sasuke could hear the other end ringing, "For your own safety, don't ask."

Obito could tell that whoever Sasuke was calling would likely make things more complicated, but he wasn't about to get all nosey with his cousin, "Well, if you say so. Just remember, you can always call me if you need help."

Sasuke gave him a small nod before the person he was calling picked up, "_Hello?"_

Sasuke was glad he picked up so soon, "Hey Naruto, it's Sasuke. Something very big just came up. You and I need to meet up like right now."

Naruto was more than a little surprised by all this, "_Well, I guess that we up at my restaurant if you'd like?"_

Sasuke wasn't crazy about the sound of that, "I think it'd be better if we just met up at my house. Do you know where is is?"

Naruto knew how to get there, "_Well yeah, I sent you those checks last year. It would have been kind of hard to do that if I didn't have your address."_

Sasuke had almost forgotten, "Oh yeah. So you'll come then?"

Naruto really didn't have much of a choice, "_Sure, I can be there in just about 20 minutes."_

Sasuke mulled that over in his mind, "You might just beat me there then. Just tell Sakura you're there to see Sasuke and she'll let you in."

It had been a while since Naruto heard that name, "_Sakura huh? How do you think she'll react to seeing me again?"_

"You know, I really don't think I could tell you," Sasuke said honestly, "When's the last time you two saw each other?"

Naruto didn't even know, "_I can't remember, but I know that it's been a long time. At least six years. You'd better call Sakura and tell her I'm coming." _

Sasuke felt that was a pretty good idea, "In that case I'll let you go so that I can call her. I'll see you in like half an hour."

Naruto gave a short goodbye and hung up. Then Sasuke hit his speed dial and got to his next important call. He couldn't wait to see how all of this went.

* * *

Back with Kakashi and Rin, things had finally begun to go right for them. Yagura had heard the description of the man who'd made the transactions and didn't even need to think about who it was. The only person he could think of that fit that description was Kabuto Yakushi, a medical student at the hospital Yagura went to a few months back for some X-rays. He'd never sold documents to Kabuto before, but that didn't really matter, no one else fit the description. Like Rin had noted earlier, this was a hard guy to forget.

Once the detectives heard this, they went right into looking into who this Kabuto character really was. It didn't take much digging to see something wasn't right with him. Everyone they question him about at the hospital said the same thing; he practically worshiped a doctor by the name of Orochimaru. If you ever wanted to find Kabuto, just hang with Orochimaru and he'd show up eventually. Orochimaru didn't exactly seem normal either, several people saying the man scared the hell out of them. When they checked him out, things got even stranger. According to his credit card statement, he'd made all kinds of purchases for medical equipment that he kept at his home. What kind of doctor needed medical equipment at his house?

Yet, while all of this was strange, there wasn't really a smoking gun anywhere to be found. It looked like Orochimaru may have ordered Kabuto to go to the bank for him, but there was no way to be sure yet. Kakashi and Rin both agreed that they shouldn't call Kabuto in yet, not until they asked Naruto what he wanted to do. They'd get their ducks in an order and then call Naruto once they were ready. Who knew, maybe there was a small chance, any chance, that Orochimaru would finally be the man they were looking for.

* * *

Sasuke Uchiha lived in a small brown house surround by a white picket fence with flowers in the front and there was a nice park just a couple blocks away. It was like something out of a magazine, the perfect place to raise children. Sakura Haruno was hoping to have children in that house one day.

She'd married Sasuke when she was just 19 years old, and for her life was like a fantasy. Sakura was a nurse at a local hospital and she was pretty good at her job. Most of her patients were a little thrown off by her hair though, as it was bright neon pink. Much like Fu, her has color was natural, but almost no one believed her.

You wouldn't find many woman in Konoha who were happier. She felt like she was living in some kind of fairy tail at times. It was the weekend, so she had the day off. That was very convenient, since Sasuke had a friend coming over today. Now she could make everyone some lunch. All she was wearing was a simple red tee-shirt and some jeans, she was trying to remain comfortable.

As she cut up some carrots and threw them into the salad she was making, Sakura heard someone knocking at the door. She of course rushed to go and get it, wanting to make sure that Sasuke's friend didn't want to wait. Sakura opened the door and found a blond man waiting for her, "Hi, you must be Naruto. It's very nice to meet you."

Naruto jumped a little bit at her chipperness, "Um, yeah, I'm Naruto. Do you not remember me or something?"

"Well you do look pretty familiar," Sakura admitted, "But Sasuke said that you were a friend of his, so maybe the two of us met at a party?"

Naruto couldn't believe it, she really didn't remember him. It was all he could do to keep from laughing, "Yup, it was that party you guys had a while back."

Sakura gave him a sweet smile and motioned for him to come in, "Well what are you waiting on? The two of us can wait for Sasuke together."

Naruto followed her inside and mumbled, "Sasuke is not gonna believe this."

* * *

The moment Sasuke got home, Naruto pulled him into the hallway and told him about Sakura not remembering him. Sasuke's jaw nearly hit the floor, "You're kidding me right? For god's sake, you chased after her all throughout high school and she actually slapped you when you asked her to prom. She doesn't even know who you are?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head, "I guess the six years that she hasn't seen me in must have fogged her memory. She just thinks I am another one of your friends."

Sasuke rubbed the bridge of his nose, "Wow, she really is a dumb bitch."

Naruto just had to point out, "You're the one who married her, I would've thought you'd know that already."

Sasuke knew that was true, "She was the perfect woman to make my wife. That pretty little idiot will believe anything I say as long as she gets to keep living her fantasy life. People are a lot less likely to suspect someone's a cold blooded killer if he's a family man."

"Well then we better go eat that lunch she made and act like nothing's up. We can talk after we get some food," Naruto recommended.

Sasuke knew that Naruto was right, so he followed his friend to get the food his wife had made. Like Naruto said, he needed to keep this ruse up if he wanted to keep doing what he was doing without getting caught. Given all of things Sasuke had 'fixed,' he really didn't feel like getting caught.

The three of them had a pleasant meal along with plenty of nice conversation. Sakura had asked Naruto how he knew Sasuke, which Naruto just answered by saying he was a client of Sasuke's, not entirely a lie really. Naruto then asked Sakura how she and Sasuke had gotten together, causing her to spin a whimsical tale of her being swept off her feet by her amazing and caring husband once they got out of high school. Sasuke mostly sat there quietly wanting to laugh at how strange the whole interaction really was.

Finally all of them finished their soup and salad and Sakura left to run a few errands. Before she left Sakura comment on how much she'd enjoyed Naruto's company and said that she hoped to see him again. Once she was out the door, the two friends began to laugh.

"Oh man, that was just hilarious!" Naruto historically roared.

Sasuke was having almost the exact same reaction, "Four years of hating your guts or spitting on your feet and then she just forgets who you are? Oh man that's priceless!"

Once they had their laughter under control, Sasuke finally told Naruto why it had been so urgent that he saw him, "Before we start, I just have to ask...you know that you can trust me, right?"

Naruto was taken back by the question, "You were one of my only friends in high school and you've been my extreme issue fixer since I started the Nine Kings. You've been my best friend for the past ten years. Of course I trust you."

Once Sasuke heard that, he knew he could start. He needed to remember everything that his grandfather had told him because his friends life depended on it. Naruto's eyes just got wider and wider as the story went on. It was like listening to some kind of horrible dream that Naruto couldn't wake up from.

Sasuke could see just how worried Naruto was by looking at his face, "And that's about it. Basically Madara's got you all by the short hairs right now."

Naruto had a thousand thoughts running through his mind, "Is there any chance he's bluffing? I mean he could say he had the information so that you and your family would work with him, but he might really not have anything."

Sasuke tapped his finger on the desk nervously, "That's a possibility, but is it a risk you're willing to take? How much information do you think it would take to finish off you and your friends?"

Naruto gulped a little bit, "Not much. If Yamato smells blood in the water, he's going for the kill. Even the slightest bit of information on us might just get Yamato what he needs to tear our operation a new one."

Sasuke really felt sorry for the guy, "So what are you gonna do? You can't just kill Madara, at least not until you find and destroy that information he had."

"This is really gonna take some time to figure out," Naruto said as his phone started to ring, "Oh man, this better be some good fucking news."

Naruto answered the call, but it didn't last very long. He listened carefully to what the person on the other end was saying and then responded, "Don't do a damn thing about it Kakashi. Get all of the kings at Choji's place right now and wait for me to to get there. Just tell them that we've got a major break in the case and that it's very important that we all get together. I've got nothing else to say right now, so I'll call you later."

Naruto hung up and Sasuke asked, "So you're gonna warn all of them about Madara, good plan. What else?"

Naruto grabbed his coat, "Fuck if know. I'm just gonna wing this whole thing for now until I can think of something better."

Sasuke got up and put his hand on Naruto's shoulder, "Knowing you, you'll pull some crazy ass plan out of nowhere and fix all of this."

Naruto just smirked at the compliment, "Madara doesn't know what's coming for him. I'm pure raw chaos and I've got my sights set on him."


	5. Family

Hello there all of my readers, welcome to yet another installment of Nine Crimes, Nine Kings. The last chapter I wrote wasn't very dialogue heavy, but I think this one will have much more character to character contact. I try to avoid doing chapters with little dialogue, because then I have to do a lot of explaining and explaining gets very boring, very quickly. Now, before I start today, I was hoping to ask a favor of you guys. You see, Naruto in real life fanfics have a harder time getting attention than some other ones. I was hoping that maybe you guys could recommend this fanfic to other readers or to a community, just to get the name out there a little more. If you guys did that for me, I would greatly appreciate it. Now, I should probably stop explaining and get to the chapter.

* * *

All of the kings rushed over to Choji's restaurant when they got Naruto's call, extremely eager to see what he had to tell them. Each of them walked in to see Naruto was already there with Kakashi and a brown haired woman. He looked like he was extremely deep in thought and kept muttering to himself about something. The only king he actually noticed walking in was Fu, and not just because she looked gorgeous as always. She was holding a cage that was covered by a thin blanket. Naruto's curiosity got the best of him, "Fu, what's in the cage?"

Fu sat down in her seat and put the cage down too, "Just a little something I need to drop off once we're done here. The little guy's sleeping right now, so he won't make too much noise during the meeting."

Naruto just figured it was business as usual and he looked around to see all of the kings were now there. He took a very deep breath and then said, "Alright people, I've got a lot to tell you, so listen closely. We've found out a lot of shit, and most of it is gonna surprise you."

Yagura didn't care about any of that bullcrap, "I don't care about what you've found out, I just want my damn money back! So were you able to figure out who took it or not?"

Naruto should've known that would be the first question, "Yeah Yagura, we've figured out who it was. The only problem is we can't can't touch a fuckin hair on his head."

Gaara got very interested, very fast, "Who in the hell has so many connections that even we can't touch him?"

Naruto didn't think that anyone was gonna believe him when he said this, "The ex-head of United Sharingan Defense, Madara Uchiha. He's the one who's been screwing around with our business."

Yugito nearly felt like fainting, "Woah, hold on a second. Why the hell would Madara Uchiha do something like this. He's rich as all hell, he always has been. I know that his company's dying, but he could just sell off all of his old equipment and factories. If he did that he could pay off all of his debts and still have a ton of cash left over."

Kakashi had been around enough Uchihas to answer that one, "Yeah, but then his company would just fade into the dust. He's not gonna let that happen. That's worse than death in Madara's mind."

Han wasn't concerned with that right now, "Okay, so Madara is the one after us. Why can't we just put a bullet in the crazy motherfucker's head and end it?"

Naruto just wished that someone would let him talk, "If you'd all just listen to what I have to say, I'll tell you. Madara paid hand over fist to get whatever information he could on us, or at least that's what he told my informant."

Utakata quickly cut him off, "Hold on a second, who's this informant that you're talking about and why should we trust him?"

Naruto shot Utakata a very threatening glare, "I can't tell you his name and you should trust him because I do. Apparently I need to make something very clear right now. None of you, and I mean none of, you are to do or say anything about any of this to anyone."

Killer Bee trusted Naruto, but still had to ask, "Yo, why are you being secretive about all of this bro?"

Naruto felt bad about telling them so little, "Because there's still a leak that we haven't plugged. We've got the jump on him right now, but if Madara finds out that we know, things will get a lot more complicated."

Fu believed Naruto was telling the truth, "Come on guys, we know that we can trust Naruto."

Roshi crossed his arms angrily, "Sorry if we're not as easily swayed as you are. We're not all fucking his brains out."

Naruto looked far angrier than Fu did when he said that, "Do you have some kind of death wish Roshi? I'm just asking because claiming that I'm manipulating Fu sure makes it seem like you have a death wish."

Fu tried to calm Naruto down, "Don't be like that babe, you know Roshi's just nervous about all of this, just like you are."

Naruto heard Fu's voice and and sighed, "If you say so sweetie, but he better watch his damn mouth. No one insults you like that."

Rin finally spoke up, "Aw, that's just plain romantic."

Yagura was starting to feel even more pissed, "Yeah, it romantic. Big freaking deal! Am I gonna get my money back or not?"

Han added in, "And what about me? Am I gonna get a crack at this guy for messing with my operation?"

Naruto knew those were fair questions, "I already promised you Yagura, I'll make sure you get your money back one way or another. As for you Han, I'll see what I can do, but I can't promise you anything. You've gotta remember you're not the only one he screwed with. Plus, we've got kill him in a way that it won't come back and bite us in the ass."

Han and Yagura went silent when they heard that. Not like they could really ask for much more. Since Naruto could tell that they were both satisfied, he asked the others, "So do any of you have a question?"

All of them looked around expecting someone to say something, but none of them did. Apparently all of them got what Naruto was saying, "Good, then all of you go home. I don't want you to say a word to anyone outside this room about anything we just said. Seriously, no one at all. We can't risk Madara finding out."

They still hated the idea that someone who worked for them could be the issue, but the kings gave a slight nod just the same. Now that they knew Madara had this information on them, things were a lot more complicated. As always, Naruto's word was law.

Since that was sorted out and they all had places to be, each of the kings expect for Naruto and Fu got up to leave. Naruto could hear that something was rattling in the cage Fu had brought, "I think whatever's in that thing just woke up."

Fu peeked under the cage, "Oh yeah, he's up alright. Perfect timing too."

Naruto could hear that she'd opened the cage and he saw an orangish-red bundle was being pulled out by Fu, "What've you got there?"

Fu pulled it all the way out to reveal a small fox, not quite a kit but not really an adult either, "I got you a present! Isn't he just the cutest thing?"

Naruto couldn't believe it, "So I guessing I'm the guy you had to drop him off to. I thought you said foxes were way too hard to train?"

Fu could still remember him asking if she could use her connections to get him a fox a year ago. He'd wanted one because of how much he liked the Kyuubi, "I said they're extremely difficult to train, which they are. However, for you, I found a guy who was willing to do it. It was a little expensive, but I was glad to cough up the money to make my boyfriend happy."

"You know, that's the first time you've called me your boyfriend," Naruto told her as he carefully brought his hand down to pet the fox. It was a little nervous, but the fox soon gave in to Naruto's gentle strokes.

Fu got a surprised look on her face, "Damn, I guess it is. Ah, whatever, we know what we mean to each other. So do you like the fox?"

Naruto was smiling down at his new pet, "Oh yeah, I love him. Does he have a name yet?"

Fu pulled out some papers, "His name is Kurama. You have to name them if you're gonna train them properly. These are all the licenses and what not that you need to have to own him legally."

Naruto liked the name, "Kurama huh? It's a good name. Seems to fit him," when Naruto said Kurama, the fox looked up, "Wow, you're pretty smart. You know you're name and everything."

Fu was really pleased to see how happy she'd made Naruto, "Do you have a vet that knows how to handle fox stuff?"

Naruto picked up Kurama and held him to his chest, being careful not to hurt the little guy, "My buddy Kiba and his family should be able to take good care of him if need be."

Kakashi and Rin had been watching this whole thing and Kakashi needed to ask, "Hey Fu, can you settle a bet for me?"

Fu looked at the detective and just kind of shrugged, "Sure, if I can anyways."

Kakashi had been wanting to ask this for years, "I've got a buddy who swears up and down that if you pet foxes, they'll pur. That's bullshit right?"

Fu looked a little irritated, "Ugh, how many times do I have to tell people? Foxes don't pur. That's something felines do and foxes are much more closely related to canines. Any time someone says a fox or anything related to a fox is purring, they're wrong."

Kakashi could breathe easy now, "Thank you! Now I can tell Guy that for fuck's sake."

"That's great Kakashi," Naruto said while still holding his new little buddy, "But I think me and Fu should probably get going. I've got get Kurama adjusted to his new home and I wanted her to come with me."

Fu agreed while scratched Kurama behind the ears, "Naruto's right. I've gotta take all the stuff he needs for Kurama and teach him everything he needs to know about raising a fox."

Rin was a little confused, "Isn't it just like raising a dog?"

Fu was thinking back on everything she'd learned about foxes, "Sort of, but there's some key differences. The main one is how they're house broken. Kurama's already trained, but there's something special Naruto has to know that Kurama's been to taught to do when he has to use the bathroom. Don't want him peeing all over Naruto's apartment."

Naruto couldn't have agreed more, "That would pretty much suck. You'd better teach me that like the second we get home."

Fu giggled and kissed Naruto on the cheek and then Kurama on the nose, "Don't worry, I will. Do you want Kurama to ride in your car or in mine?"

Naruto quickly said, "Mine of course. Kurama already knows you, but he still needs to learn who I am."

Fu couldn't argue with that, "Alright, I'll see you at your place then."

Fu started to leave and Naruto turned to Kakashi and Rin, "Yup, we'll see at home. So what are you guys gonna do?"

Rin had a feeling it best to tell him, "We're heading to see Jiraiya to tell him what everything we've found out. It's okay if we tell him, right?

"Yeah, just make sure he knows not to tell anyone else. His opinion is pretty valuable anyways," Naruto said as he left.

Kakashi and Rin watched Naruto leave with lover and new pet with a quizzical look on their faces, "Only Naruto would go through all that just to get a fox for a pet."

Kakashi was kind of used to it, "Hey, as long as it's not anything that can kill him, I'm fine with it."

Rin figured Kakashi was right, "Fair enough. We should probably go track down Jiraiya and tell him what we've found. I'll be willing to bet he'd like to know."

Kakashi was thinking that same thing, "Sounds good to me. Do you wanna drive or should I?"

Rin took the keys out of Kakashi's pocket, "I'll do it. That way you can focus on something for the two of us to talk about."

Kakashi started to smile under his mask. Rin was coming around, and he couldn't have been happier to see it.

* * *

Once the meeting was over, Gaara went right to manage his fake business that he used to launder his hit man money. He pretended to sell real estate, beach front property to be exact, as it was a very easy business to launder money in. There was a few things he'd been hoping to do with his false business before he started looking at what people he had on hit list this week.

He was in for a bit of a surprise when he walked into the office, as Hinata Hyuuga was already there and was handling some of his affairs. Gaara got nervous when he saw her, but just stuck to his normal monotone, "Ms. Hyuuga, how nice to see you. I didn't think that you were scheduled to work with us today."

Hinata was sorting through some papers, "I wasn't actually, Temari called and said that you guys were super busy so she asked me to come over and help. It took some moving around of my other appointments, but I was able to swing it."

Gaara suddenly felt kind of guilty, "Oh, she didn't need to do that. I'm sure we could've managed without you."

Temari walked in right then, "Now Gaara, don't go and act like we aren't swamped. We've got plenty of extra work that needs to be done and I'm very grateful that Hinata has agreed to help us."

Hinata gave the blonde woman a little smile, "I was happy to come and help out Temari. It's not like you guy don't pay me very well."

Gaara thought about protesting more, but Temari walked over and pulled him to the side, whispering, "Why would you go and say something like that? I know you want her here even more than I do."

Gaara both loved and hated how much Temari liked to get involved in his life. She'd made him do things that got him out of his comfort zone, but those things he often ended up enjoying. However, this was making him very nervous, "Why did you invite her here in the first place? We don't have that much extra work that needs to be done."

Temari rolled her eyes, "For god's sake Gaara, you're crazy about that girl. You make gaga eyes at her every time she comes in here."

Gaara fired right back, "And she's crazy about Naruto. I don't have a chance with her."

Temari countered with, "Naruto is taken already and she knows it. Just ask her out. What's the worst that could happen?"

Gaara could think of a lot of very bad things that could happen, but none of them were all that likely, "I don't know about this Temari…"

She pointed at Hinata and whispered sternly, "Dammit Gaara, to talk to her already."

Gaara could see his sister was serious, so he timidly walked over to her, "So Hinata...is it okay if I call you that?"

Hinata gave him a funny look and then giggled, "Of course it is Gaara. We're friends right?"

Gaara got his hopes up a little when he heard that, "Yes, we've become very close, haven't we?"

Hinata gave him one of those smiles that made him like her so much, "I know you're not exactly great with people, but once you let someone in, they see what a nice guy you are."

Gaara finally let loose a smile of his own, "Thank you, that's very sweet of you to say."

Hinata was known for being nice, "I'm just telling the truth Gaara. I actually look forward to seeing you everyday."

Gaara just kept feeling better and better, "I feel the same way...so how long are you here for?"

Hinata looked at her watch, "Just five or ten more minutes. I was barely able to get time to come here at all."

Gaara could see he didn't have much time, so he started to ask, "So Hinata, I was wondering if...maybe you'd consider...maybe if you had the time...that you and I could...well I was thinking um…"

Temari just couldn't watch her brother make a fool out of himself, "What my brother is so eloquently trying to ask you, is if you'd like to go out on a date with him some time."

Gaara was glad Temari had come to save him, "What she said."

Hinata was clearly a bit taken back by the question, "You want to take me out on a date? Why?"

Gaara decided it would best to just be honest, "You're amazing Hinata. You've got such a sweet face, that long blue hair, your ..." Gaara blushed a little, "amazing body, and so many other things that make you beautiful. You're also one of the kindest women I've ever met and one of the smartest too."

Hinata wasn't sure what to say. The things he was saying were so sweet and he really was a nice guy. She knew that she could never have Naruto, so why not give Gaara a chance? "I really don't see what it could hurt, so I guess I'll say yes. Whenever you've got the time, I'd be happy to go out on a date with you."

Gaara felt like his heart just did a backflip, "Thank Hinata, that means quite a lot to me. I'll have the details sorted out just as soon as I can."

Gaara walked out of the room with a bit of a grin on his face, causing Temari to ask, "What would you do without me?"

* * *

While Gaara was chasing after his dream girl, Kakashi and Rin headed to Jiraiya's place to see if he was home. The old detective never got around to having a family, so he lived all by himself. Without a family to visit, he didn't really have much to do. Even though the man was a full on pervert, he had tried more than once to settle down and have a family. It just hadn't ever worked out for him. Of course Minato had been like a son to him, but Minato wasn't here anymore.

Since he didn't have any family, Jiraiya was almost always at home. This turned out to be the case when Kakashi and Rin came knocking at his door, much to their convenience. They'd only knocked twice before he opened the door, "Rin, how nice of you to stop by. What are you doing in this neck of the woods?"

Kakashi had to grumble, "I'm here too."

Jiraiya gave him a quick response, "I saw you, I just don't care to reply."

Kakashi kept grumbling as Rin said, "Hey Jiraiya, we're actually here on Naruto's behalf. Mind if we come in?"

Jiraiya's doors were always open when it came to something about Naruto, "Come right in. Whatever Naruto needs, I'm happy to oblige."

Kakashi didn't know how Jiraiya was gonna treat him, "I don't suppose you've forgiven me for the whole Naruto thing yet?"

"What do you think," Jiraiya asked in a fake cheerful tone.

Kakashi slumped down, "Come on Jiraiya, I've admitted what I did was wrong. Even Rin's forgiven me at this point."

Jiraiya gave Rin a slightly funny look, "Really, you actually forgave him?"

Rin just kind of shrugged, "What can I say? You can't change the past and Kakashi's done everything he can to make up for what he did. I figured that I could at least give him a shot."

Kakashi added on to what Rin said, "That's all I'm asking for Jiraiya, just a shot. Can't you just give me that?"

Jiraiya had to think about this. He supposed if Rin could do it, then he could do it too, "Fine, but we'll just be acquaintances to start this off. You have to earn my friendship back."

Kakashi was starting to feel the pressure, "You guys never make it easy on me, but okay."

Jiraiya figured they'd better get the pleasantries over with, "So what's going on with Naruto? Last time I talked to him, he didn't' have any leads decent leads."

Rin looked less than happy, "Well now we've got plenty of leads, but there's nothing we can do about them."

Jiraiya wondered how things could flip like that, "Okay, you guys better tell me the whole thing. Let's start with how you could have leads that you aren't allowed to chase."

First, Kakashi told him about Madara and everything the old man was planning for the kings. Jiraiya wasn't all that surprised that Madara was the person behind all this. From what Jiraiya had heard, he was a man with a lot of pride and he very low moral standards. Then they filled him in about the information Madara said he had on all of the kings which also didn't surprise Jiraiya, as Madara was smart enough to have an insurance policy. Most of what they said really didn't throw Jiraiya for much of a loop, it was only when they started talking about Orochimaru that they really got his attention.

"Wait a second, what did you just the doctors name was?" Jiraiya asked urgently.

Rin was used to Jiraiya being like this, "His name was Orochimaru. What's the big deal? He's just some lowlife doctor, right?"

Jiraiya leaned back in his chair with a worried look on his face, "If only that were true. Was he a creepy looking guy that almost looked like a human snake?"

Kakashi didn't like how close he was, "That almost sounds like a direct quote from the people we talked to. Do you know this guy or something?"

Jiraiya rubbed his eyes in a tired manor, "I wish I could say no, but I know that crazy son of a bitch all too well. He was one of the coroners back when I was police Captain."

This was the first time Rin had heard anything about this, "I thought Tsunade was coroner back then?"

Jiraiya loved having a reason to talk about her again, "Aw Tsunade, you sexy fucking fox. Tall, blonde, an ass that'll make you cry, a beautiful pair of natural tits that I think god himself created. She was smart and strong too, you didn't wanna fuck with her."

Kakashi was starting to feel uncomfortable, "...Can we just get back to Orochimaru please?"

Jiraiya could see he'd went a tad too far, "Hehe, sure. The man was clearly a genius, and I mean an actual legit genius. He has a near photographic memory and an IQ of like 150. Eventually, I started to suspect that he was fudging autopsy reports for cash. I started to look into it, but Orochimaru quickly figured out what I was trying to do and left to go work at a hospital. Never was able to figure out what he was spending that extra cash on."

Rin went a little bit pale, "Me and Kakashi have some theories, but something tells me you don't want to know."

Jiraiya sighed heavily at having to take this walk down memory lane, "I think you're right. If Madara and Orochimaru are working together, I really don't wanna think about what they could do to Naruto and the kings. We need to put a stop to these guys fast."

"That why we came to see you," Kakashi told him, "Do you have any ideas as to what our next move should be?"

For one of the first times in his life, Jiraiya didn't have a clue, "Shit, I don't even know where to start. The only thing we've got going for us is that we've already got a man on the inside...but then again, so does Madara."

Rin nearly forgot about the traitor, "He does make things more complicated. We're going to have a hard time getting anything done if we have to keep tiptoeing around our own people. What should we do?"

Jiraiya was thinking hard, "I think that we can work around the spy, if we just keep being careful about only letting the kings know what's going on."

"Hopefully this is the last time I have to ask this, what do you want us to do Jiraiya?" Kakashi asked once again.

Jiraiya wasn't sure if he had the perfect idea, but he had something that he thought might work, "Madara has to be keep all of the information he gathered somewhere. If we can just get Sasuke to earn his trust, Madara might just let it slip where he's got the info hidden."

Rin was wondering if they should have that much faith in Sasuke, "Sasuke's never been one to hide his emotions. Are you sure he can pull it off?"

Jiraiya had only met Sasuke a couple of times, but he still trusted the man, "Sasuke cares enough about Naruto that I think he'd do almost anything for him. For Naruto, I know he'll keep himself under control."

That was good enough for Kakashi, "Sasuke is supposed to have another meeting with his grandfather tomorrow. I'll call him right now and tell him what to do, then I'll call Naruto and give him the rundown."

Jiraiya hoped to god he was right. He didn't want to think about losing Naruto like he'd lost Minato. A lot of this plan was going to be riding on Sasuke, so all Jiraiya could do was sit back and watch for now. Talk about frustrating.

* * *

Sasuke was very nervous right now. He hadn't heard back from Naruto for a couple of hours, so he had no idea how the meeting went. Naruto was probably the closest friend Sasuke had and he was possibly in danger right now. How much more nervous could a guy get?

Now he was practically sitting right on top of his phone, just begging it to ring while he sat on his comfy couch. Finally the damn thing went off and Sasuke answered it right away, "About fucking time you called me. What's the word Naruto?"

There was a small laugh on the other end, "_Actually, it Kakashi, but I'll still be happy to fill you in on everything."_

Sasuke didn't care who it was at this point, "Yeah, nice to talk to you, blah blah, what's going on with Naruto!"

Kakashi kind of wanted to keep screwing the man, "_Jesse Sasuke, you're sounding all stressed out. Maybe you should go take a nice bath, light a few candles, relax a little bit…"_

Sasuke growled on the other end, "Tell me what I want to know or I swear I'll reach through this phone and rip out your brain so that I can just find the answer myself."

Kakashi really was having fun with this, "_Well that's kind of physically impossible, but okay. Here's what you missed while we were at the meeting."_

Sasuke finally got the straight answer and you could see him getting nervous as they got to the part about him tricking Madara, "You want to me to betray my grandfather?"

Kakashi figured this would be a bit of a sore spot with him, "_You either have to betray him, or let Naruto be fed to the dogs. It's up to you, but I think I know what you're going to choose."_

Sasuke felt a little bad that it took him almost no time to answer, "There's way I can turn my back on Naruto like that, even if Madara is my grandpa. He's insane and he's crossing a line this time. Hell, I don't wanna try and manage the Nine Kings. Naruto's literally got the perfect set up. Everyone's got their role and I'd have to find people to fill of those roles. I don't need that much cash and I don't need that much stress."

Kakashi could totally understand that, "_Heavy lies the head that wears the crown. That's why Naruto made sure he didn't have too much pressure on him. He would've gone nuts ages ago if he'd tried to do all this by himself. Well that's all I needed to tell you. Make sure you're ready for your meeting with your grandfather tomorrow. You've gotta earn his trust as quickly as possible."_

Sasuke saw his wife coming so he quickly said, "Yeah, I'll make sure that it gets done. I'll call once I've got everything in motion. Have yourself a nice evening now."

He hung up the phone and Sakura sat down next to him, "Who was that honey?"

Sasuke played it off like it was nothing, "Oh, just a client who wanted me to do a couple of things for him tomorrow. Nothing major."

Sakura was clearly very excited about something, "I've got some really big news Sasuke. You're not gonna believe it!"

Sasuke wasn't sure what to expect, "Sounds like it's something good. What is it?"

Sakura put her hands on her stomach, "...I'm pregnant…"

Sasuke was shocked for a moment, but was genuinely happy in mere moments, "That's wonderful! Is it for sure?"

Sakura nodded and said gleefully, "Of course, I didn't want to tell you until I was sure."

Sasuke really was very happy about all of this. He'd always wanted a child, and he really did have feelings for Sakura. While Sasuke wasn't sure if it was love, there was definitely something good there, "So when did you find about this?"

Sakura was still giggling, "I was two weeks late for my period today, so I bought some tests at the store. As soon as I got home, I tested myself three times. They all came out positive."

Sasuke's mind was racing, "I'm gonna be a daddy...you're gonna be a mommy...where gonna be parents…"

Sakura threw her arms around Sasuke, "This is gonna be so perfect. We're gonna have a family. Oh Sasuke, I'm just so happy!"

Sasuke could more than understand that, "It's really amazing. How far along are you?"

Sakura had already figured that out, "I'm a month along. In just eight months we're gonna have a little baby here. I've got a person growing inside of me."

Sasuke put his hand on her stomach, "Are you hoping for a boy or a girl."

"I don't care, as long they've got your eyes," Sakura answered while looking deeply into Sasuke's eyes.

Sasuke looked back, excitement still dancing in his eyes, "Yeah, my eyes...oh crap, I almost forgot!"

Sakura looked at him curiously, "What is it?"

Sasuke had to think up an excuse for the whole Madara thing, "My grandpa is gonna need my help for the next couple of weeks. He's got some more medical stuff he needs my help with."

Sakura couldn't see any reason to question that, "Oh, well that's no big deal. It's not like I'm gonna have the baby anytime soon. A couple of weeks won't matter."

"I know," Sasuke replied, "it's just gonna be a bit of a pain."

Sakura thought of something, "He's pretty old, do they think that this might be it for him?"

Sasuke wanted to say he hoped so, but instead he said, "It's a distinct possibility, and he's more than pretty old. The man is older than dirt for crying out loud. I'm not gonna lie, I don't really know him that much. It's not gonna be a big deal for me."

Sakura hadn't ever even met the man, "I guess you've got a point there. Oh well, it doesn't matter right now. What matters is that we're going to have our own little bundle of joy soon."

Sasuke agreed and let her cuddle up with him. This wasn't the perfect time to have a baby, but he really couldn't complain. He was getting what he always wanted, a little baby to call his own. Part of him wanted a little son that could pass on the family name and bond with, and part of him wanted a little girl that he could treat like a princess and scare guys away from. Maybe if he was lucky he could have both one day

* * *

Naruto and Fu got back to his apartment relatively fast, although only because Naruto didn't want Kurama to pee in the car. The fox had his little paws on the dashboard and he was trying to see out the window the whole time. It was quite cute to look at. Fu had really hit the nail on the head with this gift.

Once they got to the apartment, Naruto set Kurama down and the bundle of red fur immediately left to go and explore his new home. Naruto watched as Kurama curious eyes looked over the small place with curious eyes. He left no corner of the apartment unturned, making sure to take everything in. Finally the fox stopped moving and seemed to nod as if he approved of the place. Then he went into the living room and walked in little circles, then lied down.

Naruto was pretty impressed at the animal's intelligence, "Wow, he's a smart little bugger, isn't he?"

Fu already knew that, "That's why he was picked by the trainer. Kind of like humans with their kids, foxes can get one kit that's randomly smarter than the rest of them. He was born a lot smarter than the average fox, which made him perfect for training."

Naruto asked a question he had been thinking about earlier, "Does he come if you call his name or anything like that?""

Fu remembered that was one of the things she needed to teach Naruto, "Oh yeah, he only didn't come before because you were already holding him and I was petting him. Say his name, go ahead."

Naruto looked at his fuzzy buddy and said his name, "Come here Kurama."

The fox looked up and yipped, then walked over to Naruto. Fu knew he'd come, "You see, I told that he'd do it."

Naruto wasn't surprised, "I trusted you. Kurama is gonna be a ton of fun."

Fu bent down and picked him up, "Yeah, but there's a couple things that you've gotta know about him. Nothing scary, just little things about what he does and what he needs to do and stuff."

Naruto really wanted to make sure Kurama was properly raised, so he made sure not to miss a word Fu said. Like Fu said, there wasn't anything that Naruto couldn't handle. Kurama had little things he would do when he needed to use the bathroom and there were specifics things that he should be eating. Basically, a fox was a like this one was a very high maintenance dog. It took a little longer for foxes to become affectionate, but Naruto had a feeling he could get Kurama's trust pretty easily.

It didn't take long before Naruto felt he the hang of it. He'd written most of what Fu said down though, just to be safe. He brought his hand up to scratch Kurama's neck "Huh, that's not so bad. So what do you think Kurama? Do you wanna be a new part of my little family?"

Kurama gave a small yip and started to like Naruto's fingers. Fu thought that was a pretty clear answer, "I think that's a yes...so, am I part of your little family?"

Naruto got a small blush on his face, "Do you really have to ask?"

Fu cuddled up with Kurama, "Nope, I know right where I fit in. I'm gonna be over a lot more now so that Kurama can cuddle with mama."

Naruto got what Fu was saying, "So if you're Kurama's new mama huh?"

Fu gave him a coy wink, "Yup, you got a problem with that daddy?"

Naruto leaned in and gave her a little kiss, "Nope, I think we're the perfect little fucked up family."

Kurama started to squirm a little bit and Fu said, "I'm gonna take him outside so that he relieve himself. You should probably call your vet to make sure that he's got all the stuff he's gonna need to take care of a fox."

Naruto figured that Kiba would be able to handle anything Kurama needed, but he would call his old friend anyways, "Alright, do you have a leash for him or something like that?"

Fu held up a blue collar with a leash attached to it, "Of course, I'm gonna put him on this before I go. Don't want him wandering off. He's smart, but he's still a wild animal."

Naruto was glad to hear it had he started to dial his phone. It was ringing for a while before Kiba picked up on the other end, "_Dammit Naruto, this better be good! Ino's wearing nothing but whipped cream right now!"_

Naruto was taken a little off guard, "Whipped cream huh? That's actually kind of tame for you guys."

Kiba couldn't deny that, "_We only get really kinky if we have days where we know we're not gonna do anything. For stuff like that, you've gotta be able to focus."_

Naruto didn't even wanna know, "...right...So I just wanted to call you and tell you that I got a new pet. A little fox named Kurama."

Even with a naked girl in his bedroom, well sort of naked, he was kind of intrigued by this, "_A fox huh? Well that's pretty cool, but why are you calling me about it?"_

Naruto was surprised he had to explain, "Because I was hoping that you could be his personal vet."

Kiba felt kind of stupid all of a sudden, "_Oh, right. Guess I'm just not used to you calling me for something other than killing people. I'm not actually a full fledged vet yet, but I can handle a fox just fine until I am. They're exotic pets, but not really all that much more complicated than a dog."_

Naruto knew that he'd say yes, "Well thanks. I'll make sure to pay you extra for this, so don't worry about that."

Ino was heard from a slight distance, "_Oh Kiba, you better not be getting soft on me."_

Kiba groaned a little bit and said, "_That's great Naruto, but I've gotta go. A sexy girl covered in ice cream topping is waiting for me!"_

Naruto was about to comment, but Kiba hung up the phone, "I swear, those two fuck like a couple of rabbits. A couple of very messed up, kinky little rabbits."

Then Naruto saw a little orange blur jump up on the counter, letting him know that Fu was back in the apartment. Before he could even say anything, Fu wrap her arms around him and slowly slid her hand down to his groin, "Aw, don't be so hard on them. How about I remind you just how much fun we had the other night?"

Naruto shuddered with pleasure, "Oh, you are one sneaky woman...and god bless you for it."

She started to unzip his pants pulled out his large member, "Aw yeah, now that's what I'm talking about. Let's put his bad boy to some good use."

Naruto was enjoying Fu's soft, warm, skilled hands stroking his dick, so much so that he really didn't want it to end. However, he was the kind of guy to let a girl pleasure him without returning the favor. He spun Fu around and gave her a soul searing kiss and he brought his hand up under her skirt. Sliding his hand under her white silk panties, Naruto began to gently rub her lower lips.

Fu loved it when he tried to take control, "Oh, good start!"

Naruto started to move his middle finger in and out of her pussy and whispered into her ear, "For the rest of night, I'm gonna make you feel like you're the only girl in the world. By the time I'm done with you, you won't even be able to walk."

Fu knew that he was serious and told him just as seriously, "I'm gonna suck you dry and leaving you begging for more. My pussy is gonna make you come like a freight train."

Naruto should've know better than to try and out dirty talk Fu. He started to kiss and suck on her neck, using actions instead of words to beat her. Fu's mind started to go hazy and Naruto could hear her breathing speeding up, "Oh good god yes!"

Naruto gave Fu a victorious smirk, "That's right, I know just how you like it, don't I?"

"Shut up you idiot," Fu panted as pulled Naruto in for another long kiss.

Fu and Naruto started to make their way to the bedroom, there lips still locked tightly. As they were falling onto the bed, Kurama was following them unnoticed. The clever little fox jumped up on a chair that was in the room and watched his new 'parents' as they began their lovemaking session. The lovers didn't sense the fox even a little bit. They were far too rapped up in passion of the moment.


	6. Survival

Hey there everyone, nice to see you're all back. Most of you probably noticed that the last chapter ended with Naruto and Fu getting very frisky with one another. This chapter will begin with a sex/lemon scene, and if you don't with to read it, simply skip down to the page break that'll come after this one. Well, I guess this next installment shall now begin.

* * *

Naruto and Fu were going at it hotter than they ever had before. It had actually gotten too intense for Kurama to keep watching, so he'd left the room and was taking a nap on the couch.

Naruto's pants were completely off along with his shirt. Fu was down to only her painties, her perky C-cup breats were bouncing up and down right in front of Naruto's face. He'd always loved her breasts. They were same tan color the rest of her skin was, perfectly round, with dark pink nipples that were currently erect.

Fu was currently lying on her back, moaning as her boyfriend stimulated the most sensitive parts of her body. Naruto was sucking and swirling his slick tongue around one nipple while he gently pinched the other between his fingers and massaged her breast with his hand.

She loved how hot Naruto was a tit man, "Oh yeah, you love these tittes, don't you?"

Naruto pulled his head up, "You know it, and you love it when I suck on them too."

Fu arched her back up in pleasure and said, "This is great and all, but these'll feel even better if they're being used on you."

Naruto knew what that meant, so he got up and layed down on his back like Fu had, "Well then please, go ahead and use them."

Fu got off of her back and leaned to down by his rigid dick, "I'm gonna take you to haven babe."

She grabbed her breast and engrossed his member in between them. Naruto threw his head back and groaned as soon as he felt how soft yet firm they were, "Aw shit Fu, you're the best!"

Fu started moving breasts up and down the dick, giving Naruto one of her tit jobs that he loved so much, "Don't cum too fast now, I want you to enjoy this."

Naruto was a little offend by that statement, although you couldn't really tell with the look of pure bliss on his face, "You're good Fu, but I don't cum that easily."

Fu gave him a seductive smirk and started to pick up the pace a little bit. Once she got the chance, she gave his shaft a nice long lick. The warm saliva let Naruto's dick move through her breasts much easier, making it feel even better for Naruto, "Oh yeah, well how about now?"

Naruto's hips bucked a little bit, "Oh good god yes! I think I'm gonna cum soon!"

Fu kept moving faster and faster, she could feel Naruto's dick twitching in between her breasts, "That right Naruto, do it. Cum all over me face and my tits. Don't hold back!"

Naruto was reaching his limit hearing her talk like that, "Fu! I'm gonna blow!"

Fu could feel his dick twitching even more before he lost all control and came all over her body. She smiled as she sat up, Naruto's cum running down her breasts and cheeks. Taking her fingers, Fu wiped some of it off her cheeks and licked it off her hand, "Oh my Naruto, this is a pretty big load. You must have been really eager. I don't mind though, because you taste so good."

Naruto looked down to see he was still hard as a rock, "I'm not even close to done yet. I think it's time we get to the main event."

Fu got down on her hands and knees, pointing her perfect heart shaped ass right in Naruto's face. She shook it a little bit, just to get her boyfriend's blood going a little harder, "Well then show me what you've got. I made you come, now it's your turn to return the favor."

Naruto crawled over to her in anticipation and pulled her panties off. Then he rubbed his member on her lower lips, "Oh, you're looking pretty wet here. You want this pretty bad, don't you?"

Fu started to breath harder as Naruto teased her, "Oh come on, don't be like this. Just stick it in already! Fuck me, hammer my pussy!"

Naruto couldn't resist those words, "Fu, you always know just what to say."

He grabbed her hips and rammed into her. She threw her head back and screamed as he totally filled her. Naruto kept pulling in and out of her, the sound of their bodies smacking together filled the room. Fu clutched the sheets as her mind became more and more of a blur, "Oh fuck yes! Oh yeah, right fucking there! Faster Naruto, faster!"

Naruto didn't need to be told twice, so he started moving his hips even faster. "Oh yeah, your pussy feels so good!"

Fu's whole body was going numb. Naruto just kept pounding into her harder and harder. He was like some kind of animal that just couldn't stop. No one could please her like Naruto could, no one on earth. When the two of them came together, it was the best sex either of them had ever had.

Naruto could feel her pussy getting tighter, signaling that she was close to coming. Since he'd come one already, Naruto wasn't quite there yet. That was good, since it gave them a chance that to come together late on.

"Nar-ruto! I'm clos-se to cumm-ming!" Fu panted out, trying to catch her breath so that she would talk to her lover.

Naruto could feel her juices starting to coat his dick, "I know, I can feel it! It's okay, go ahead and cum!"

Fu let out one last scream as she released everything on to her boyfriend's member, "Oh god yesssssssssssss!"

Naruto pulled out of her, panting quite a bit himself, "I'm gonna guess you enjoyed yourself there, huh?"

Fu had a bit of a goofy smile on her face, "I'm in too good of a mood to even make a smart ass remark about that," she said before she looked at herself in Naruto's bedroom mirror, "I'm pretty dirty though. Maybe we should go and grab a shower."

That was just what Naruto was hoping she'd say. They had some of their best sex in the shower. He got up and motioned to the bathroom, "A shower sounds nice. After you Fu."

Fu got up and walked into the bathroom, "You know it's kind of funny, most people take a shower to get clean. You and me though, we're usually getting pretty dirty in there."

Naruto gave a playful smack on her ass, "That's the best way to do it if you ask me."

Fu giggled as she got into the shower and turned on the hot water, "I think so too. Come on in sweetie, the water feels great."

Naruto stepped into his tile shower and closed the door. There lips soon met as they got into another intense kissing war. They both made sounds of pleasure as their tongues dance around one anothers and they explored each other's body.

Naruto's erection was still going strong, much to Fu's joy, "That thing just never quits, does it?"

"Not when you're around," He said before he started kissing her again.

Fu spread her legs and got ready, "I think we're past foreplay at this point. Just fuck me again, even harder than before."

Naruto started to enter her again, "Okay, but remember that you asked for this."

"Oh yeah, I asked for it, so you'd better not hold back." Fu warned him.

Naruto was once again fully inside her, "Believe me, that won't be an issue."

Before long he was moving in and out of her and she started to move in rhythm with him. The two of them once again began to whisper sweet nothings into each other's ears. Although their sweet nothings were dirty enough to make a sailor blush.

The warm water flowing all over their bodies made the whole thing more pleasurable for both Naruto and Fu, not that either of them ever knew why. Something about the shower just made things so much better. It was their favorite place to have sex.

Naruto's eyes rolled into the back of his head as Fu kept grinding her hips into him, leaning back into the wall so that she could keep her balance. He could barely keep his mind sharp enough to trail kisses all over Fu's body. To him, looking at his girlfriends naked body was like looking at that of a goddess.

Fu was loving the relentless way Naruto was fucking her pussy. She ran her fingers through his hair, trying her best not to pull it right out of his head. As far as she was concerned, her boyfriend had pretty much a perfect body.

The two of them could tell the other was close to coming, Naruto because Fu's pussy was getting tighter and Fu because Naruto's dick was twitching more and more. Naruto panted out a little bit, "I'm almost th-here."

Fu ran her nails across his back, "Do it Naruto, cum right inside me! Come on, fucking do it!"

Naruto and Fu weren't able to hold back anymore. They both screamed as they came simultaneously. The blonde completely unloaded into his girlfriend while Fu came on his dick. There juices mixed together and spilled out on to the shower floor poured down into the drain.

Naruto soon caught his breath, "Well, that was fun."

Fu couldn't recover quite as fast as Naruto could, so she was still panting a little, "Way more than fun. That might just be the best sex we've ever had."

Naruto rolled his eyes, "You say that every time we have sex."

Fu fired back, "Well maybe it just gets better everytime?"

Naruto had a hard time arguing with that, "With you, that's a definite possibility. Guess as long as we're in here, we might as well actually take a shower."

Fu grabbed some soap and started to rub it on her body, "Sure, as long as we're in here."

The two of them got showered up, only this time they just took a legitimate shower. They got all cleaned up and then dried off, then went back into the bedroom to but some of their clothes back on. When they got done getting dressed, Kurama was in the middle of the bed taking a nap. Fu found it pretty funny, "Looks like he's making himself right at home."

Naruto smiled and shook his head, "He's seems pretty comfy right there. Looks like we've got a new sleeping buddy."

Fu laid down next to Kurama, "Eh, I don't mind. You up for a nap?"

Naruto laid down and put his around Fu, "After that work out, a nap doesn't sound half bad."

The two of them drifted off to sleep with Kurama in between them. It was a nice little moment for the three of them. They were almost like one little happy family.

* * *

Sasuke had spent most of his night celebrating after Sakura had given him the good news. Neither of them drank alcohol of course, didn't want to take any risks with Sakura pregnant and all. However, he had to go and see his grandfather the very next morning. He needed to start earning Madara's trust, which was going to take a while. That meant he was gonna have to start as soon as possible so that he could get this done before Naruto and his buddies ended up in a bad position.

He was at his grandfather's mansion right now and was the only young Uchiha there today, both Obito and Itachi had other things to do, so he was going to be all alone with his grandpa. Hopefully that would make things easier on him since Madara would have less distractions.

He walked through the empty halls until he found Madara's bedroom. Sasuke peaked inside and saw his grandfather was already awake. Madara seemed glad to see him, "Sasuke, I really wasn't expecting you so soon. Have you made your decision already?"

Sasuke knew that he'd want to get right down to business, "Actually, yes I have. You were right about never having too much cash. The more I thought about it, the more that extra cash sounded pretty good to me."

Madara felt that was a pretty big change in attitude after just one day, "I thought you said you were totally comfortable with the amount of money you had?"

Sasuke needed to think of a quick explanation, one that Madara would be able to buy. He was thinking so hard, trying so hard, to come up with something his grandfather would believe. It quickly hit him that he had the perfect reason to need more money, one that Madara would even be happy about.

"Well um...hehe...I just found out last night that Sakura is pregnant and I've heard that babies can cost a lot of money," Sasuke told him with a nervous smile.

Sasuke had found the perfect excuse indeed. Madara was ecstatic to hear about a new Uchiha, "Well now this is most wonderful news! You see Sasuke, this is just what you needed. To be shown the value of family. You'll be restoring this families honor and carrying on it's name at the same time. My boy, I'm so proud of you!"

Sasuke hadn't ever seen Madara this happy before, "Damn, this family really is important to you, isn't it?"

"There's nothing more important to me than this family's legacy," Madara told him confidently, "and with your help I can properly protect it."

It looked like there were two reasons it was good that Sakura was pregnant, "Well, I wanna see to it that my wife and child are well cared for. I know that I make a lot of money now, but my future son or daughter is only gonna get the best. What I make now might not be enough to cover that."

Madara felt the man was finally saying things that made sense, "Now you're thinking straight. Uchihas never settle for something that's second rate, cash is not an issue for people like us. We let the weak deal with things like that.

Sasuke could hardly believe how his grandfather viewed the world around him, but he didn't wanna say how he really felt. He just agreed, "That would the right of the Uchiha's, yes."

Madara looked at Sasuke with pride, "I knew that you'd see it my way. It was just a matter of time and the proper motivation."

Sasuke decided to move into the next topic, but delicately enough so that Madara wouldn't get suspicious, "But if I'm gonna do this shit, I need to be filled in on a couple of things. I can't go into this completely blind after all."

Madara understood that, "Well that's fair enough, no one with a brain would do this without the facts. What specifically did you want to know?"

Sasuke had to think very carefully here. If asked for too much, Madara would start to suspect something. Yet, if he asked to little, Naruto would have nothing to work with. He had to pick a good opening question here. After a little bit of thinking, Sasuke felt he had a question that would work pretty well, "Let's start with an easy one. Which one of the kings do you plan to hit next?"

Madara thought about it for a couple of seconds, then decided it was safe to tell him, "That buffoon who calls himself Killer Bee, I've got something very special planned for him. I barely know him, and yet I already hate him. He raps of all things! Raps! Back when in my day, rap was just called noise."

Sasuke felt it was a little too soon to ask exactly what Madara was going to do to Bee, so he just said, "I never was much for rap. It's not bad I guess, I just prefer some nice rock and roll."

Madara didn't care for that either, "Classical is the only thing worth listening to if you ask me."

Sasuke decided not to get into an argument with him, "We could split hairs about this all day. How about instead, you just tell me what all you need me to do for the Nine Kings situation?"

Madara got excited again, "Yes, now that is an excellent suggestion. There's a couple of things that I would vastly appreciate you doing for me."

Sasuke just kind of shrugged, wanting Madara to get to the point, "Okay, what did you have in mind?"

Madara started to name off some simple tasks that he wanted Sasuke to do. Nothing really hard, but also not something you could hand off to just anybody. Most of it was simple stuff, seeing that Orochimaru got a couple of papers, messing with some United Sharingan Defense papers, things like that. However, there was one thing Madara asked that was actually worth Sasuke's talents.

"So you want me to be a guard for Orochimaru. What exactly does he need guarding from?" Sasuke asked, not understanding his grandfather's request.

Madara didn't have any problem telling him about this part, "Apparently, he unknowing screwed over a crime ord by the name of Gato in a small city just outside of Konoha. Back when he was a coroner, he faked some details in an autopsy report that almost put Gato in jail. Orochimaru later found out he'd been paid off by a rival crime lord. Gato doesn't leave his own territory because he doesn't want to piss off the other crime lords, but Orochimaru needs to get some drugs that are only available in Gato's home town. You just need to keep him from getting his head blown off tomorrow."

Sasuke could handle that like it was nothing, "That's it? I almost thought you had something hard for me."

Madara loved his attitude, "Glad you feel that way. That's all for now. You could leave if you'd like, but I'd love it if you'd stay and have a meal with me like your brother did."

Sasuke kind of wanted to say no, but he was trying to earn Madara's trust. He'd just have to eat a meal with the old man, "Sure, what are you in the mood for?"

* * *

Another important meeting was going on as well, but this one was of a romantic nature. Gaara and Hinata had decided to go out for lunch, as that was the only time that both of them were free. They didn't want to go anywhere to fancy, so they went to a nice little steak joint. It wasn't a four star restaurant, but the food was very good and the staff was pleasant.

Gaara had ordered a steak with some mashed potatoes covered in gravy and asparagus, a meal that any man would be happy to eat. Hinata ordered chicken alfredo, something simple but tasty. The only thing they really had to do now was think of something to talk about.

While he wasn't sure if it was a good idea, Gaara could think of one thing to talk about, "So you're the heiress of the Hyuuga empire?"

Hinata figured that would be one of the subjects of interest, "Yes, but there's not much I can tell you about that. The company hasn't really had any major scandals, we've been too smart to let something like that happen. I'm likely going to take over once my father steps down, although many people feel like my cousin Neji should be one taking control. He's a little better at running a business than I am."

Gaara had a hard time believing that, "Are you sure about that? You're easily one of the most intelligent people I've ever met."

Hinata blushed a little at the compliment, "I'm not going to lie, I'm probably a little smarter than Neji is, but he's much more cold blooded than I am. Thing is, I just don't have it in me to screw over other companies to get what I want."

Gaara didn't really think that was a flaw, "I think that's to be admired. It's nice to see that in such a cut throat business some people still have a heart."

"Well thank you," Hinata said, putting a hand on Gaara's hand, causing him to blush. "Naruto told me that you're kind of the same way. You only take 'jobs' out on people that you've checked out and made sure deserved to be...well, you know. That's not something all people have the honor to do."

Gaara's blush got a little deeper, "I do what I can, if nothing else."

Hinata wanted to talk about something other than her, "Well it's nice if you ask me. So why don't you tell me a little more about yourself? How did you get into your particular line of work?"

Gaara knew she was mainly asking how he became an assassin, which was really one hell of a story. It was almost like something out of a movie script, "It actually goes all the way back to the day I was born. There were complications with my birth, and my mother ended up dying as a result. My father blamed me and he wasn't afraid to say it. While he spoiled my brother and sister, he treated me like I was the family dog."

Hinata gasped a little bit. She realized that he never brought up his father before this, "That's horrible. I never would've guessed from how close your brother and sister was."

Gaara didn't see any reason to tell her, "It's not something I like to talk about. Anyways, Kankuro and Temari loved me dearly and hated the way father treated me. They became what kept me sane throughout that time. Eventually, he even began to beat me. That was straw that broke the camels back for both me and my siblings."

Hinata was on the edge of her seat, "So what did you guys do?"

Gaara told her how it all went down, "I was just 13 at the time and me and my siblings sat down to formulate a plan. One night, when my father sat down for his nightly drink, he was a scotch man if I remember correctly, Kankuro crushed up sleeping pills and slipped them into his drink. After that, we toyed with some electrical outlets in the house to make them unstable. We made that house burn down and made it look as though my father died in a tragic accidental fire. Thanks to those sleeping pills, he never woke up to try and escape."

"That's an incredible story Gaara, but how did that cause you to become a hitman?" Hinata asked, still a little shocked.

Gaara was getting to that part, "Well you see, there was only one person who didn't buy our little rouse. A man buy the name of Shinu who had spent his life getting rich off of others misery. He made one fatal mistake though, and that was underestimating me. Before the house burned down, I took out my fathers old revolver that he'd never had registered. When he came by the foster house that we'd been placed at to try and blackmail us for the insurance money we got from father, I put a bullet in his head. I said that he tried to rape me and just sort of told them the truth about the gun. The only thing that I changed was I said I'd taken it out the night before the fire because I just wanted to look at it and just never gave it to the cops after the fire."

Hinata was still lost, "This is story is very interesting, but are you gonna get to the part about becoming an assassin soon."

Gaara supposed that he was rambling, "Well he was a hated by just about everyone, so when I killed him I was made a town hero. I was showered with praise and was called a local hero, even given some gifts. Hell, it was great . So I decided that I'd start killing bad men for gain for the rest of my life."

Hinata could see how he ended up where he did, "That's amazing Gaara...you're amazing…"

Gaara looked to see that their food had arrived, "I'm honored that you think so. Shall we eat?"

Hinata grabbed her fork, "I'd like that...Just so you know, I'm having a wonderful time."

Gaara's heart sored at hearing that, "You have no idea how happy I am to hear you say that."

* * *

When Naruto woke up, he found the Kurama was still laying next to him but Fu was gone. He got up and found a note taped to his mirror. It was from Fu, "_Dear Naruto~sorry about leaving so soon. I forgot that I was gonna go and see my Uncle today. Guess it was a good thing I started leaving clothes here. I was gonna wake you up and tell you I left, but you just looked so peaceful sleeping with Kurama. I'll come by in a little bit~Fu."_

Naruto finished reading the letter from Fu and saw that Kurama was starting to wake up too. He walked over sat next to him, stroking his fur, "Looks like she's gonna be out for a while. There's nothing knew with the Madara stuff either, so it looks like a pretty good time to go and introduce you to your vet. Does that sound good?"

Kurama put his head in Naruto's lap. The fox didn't responded, as it had no idea what a vet was. Naruto was gonna take him not matter what the fox said anyways, "Yeah, I think that's what we'll do. I'll get changed and go get your collar."

Kurama jumped off the bed and Naruto started to put on some clean clothes. When he turned around, the fox had his lease in his mouth and it was connect to his collar, "Holy shit, just how smart are you?"

Kurama just blinked a couple of time and set the lease down at Naruto's feet. Naruto grabbed it and slid it his pet's neck, "Come on, let's go introduce you to some of my friends."

Naruto started to walk out of his room and to the door, but he noticed a small bag with a note on the table, "_Fu again~Just wanted to remind you that Kurama is probably gonna be hungry when you wake up."_

Naruto hadn't thought about that. He grabbed the bag and got a tupperware bowl from the cupboard, "Alright, we'll get something to eat and then take you to meet my friends."

Kurama yipped happily, which caused Naruto to smile. He may not have had him long, but he already loved this little fox.

* * *

Fu really had forgotten about her meeting with Kakuzu. She had gotten so excited when she gave Naruto his gift, she completely forgot she had anything else to do. Luckily, she woke up just in time to get dressed and go she her uncle.

She got to his office and didn't even bother to knock, rather she just walked right in. Kakuzu was sitting at his desk, the red haired Sasori and black and green haired Pakura were both tinkering with their hobbies, poison and fire, and Hidan was on the phone mumbling about something.

As soon as she got inside, Fu started apologizing, "Sorry I'm a little bit late, I overslept."

Kakuzu raised an eyebrow, "It's the middle of the day, how long have you been sleeping?"

Fu laughed nervously, "I accidently fell asleep, so I guess it's not actually oversleeping… doesn't matter. How are you doing?"

Kakuzu started to light a cigar, "Not too bad I guess, been making a pretty good amount of cash as of late."

Fu took the cigar out of his mouth, "Sorry but you don't get to do that while I'm here. I made Naruto quit smoking, and I'd make you quit too if I could."

Kakuzu set his lighter down and sighed, "Fine...so how is everything going with the kings?"

Fu sat down while trying to think of how to put this, "Well I'd love to tell you about that, I'm not really supposed to. Seriously, Naruto said that we can't tell anybody about this stuff."

Kakuzu felt a little hurt, "Are you saying that you don't trust me?"

Fu quickly explained, "No, it's not that. It's just that we know that there's a spy in our midst and we can't risk anything being overheard by a third party."

Kakuzu felt a little better, "Huh, I guess I can understand this...well shit, half the reason I had you come here was so that you could tell me about this stuff. I'm not sure what to talk about now."

Fu was more than able to come up with something, "I've got something. I hate to ask you to do this, but I was wondering if,"

Kakuzu cut her off "No."

Fu pouted, "You haven't even,"

Kakuzu repeated, "No."

Fu frowned, "Will you at least,"

Kakuzu sounded like a broken record, "No."

Fu finally yelled, "Just let me finish a damn sentence!"

Kakuzu found it a little bit funny, "I suppose, but you'd better not say what I think you're going to."

Fu hated to ask him for this, "Some of the Kings are likely going to ask you for money. All I'm asking is that you give them the amount they want with the usual interest rate. Just make it so that they don't have to pay it back right away. You know they're good for it, they just need more time."

Kakuzu leaned back in his chair, thinking deeply, "Hm...I was expecting you to ask me to just give them the money."

Fu wasn't that stupid, "I'd never ask you to do that, it wouldn't be fair."

Kakuzu scratched his chin, "Well, I suppose since the kings have so much influence in the crime world, I can cut them a one time deal. They're a major source of business for me anyways."

Fu walked over and gave her uncle a big hug, "Thanks Uncle Kakuzu, you're the best."

Kakuzu just had to hug her back, "Yeah, I know."

* * *

Once Kurama had eaten his fill and Naruto had called Kiba to warn him they were coming, the two got in the car and headed off. Naruto had feeling that Kiba and Ino, much like him, were going to love the little fella. He wasn't driving to vets office, just Kiba's apartment. All Naruto was doing was trying to make sure that Kurama trusted Kiba when the time came that the fox would need medical attention, so no actual equipment was required.

When they got the building, Naruto started to walk up the stairs and used the lease to make Kurama follow him. While the little fox did okay with getting up the stairs, his legs were still a little small and it made things difficult. Naruto decided to just pick him up and carry him the rest of the way.

Naruto went to knock on the door, but Ino opened it before he could. She squealed in joy and grabbed Kurama, "Oh, you are just so cute! Kiba told me you guys were coming! Look at his fur, it's so pretty! He's got such big eyes too, I just love him!"

Kurama looked a little scared, so Naruto started to scratch him behind the ears to calm him down, "You shouldn't scream like that Ino, it makes him nervous."

Ino looked apologetically at the fox, "Oops, sorry little guy."

Kurama licked Ino's face a little as if to say it was okay. Ino giggled as Kiba appeared, "She loves small animals. I think that's half the reason she agreed to date me in the first place."

"That did score you some points with me, yes," Ino joked at him, then looked at Kurama, "I think it's time for you to meet your doctor."

Naruto was a little nervous as watched Ino hand his new pet to Kiba, "Be careful with him. He's really small and he gets nervous around new people."

Kiba looked at Kurama and grinned, showing off his larger than usual canine teeth, "Don't worry man, I deal with animals smaller than him all the time. I know what to do."

Kurama saw Kiba's teeth and for some reason it seemed to make the animal trust him more. He yipped happily and looked as though he approved of his the vet. Ino knew it would go well, "Aw, it looks like he likes you Kiba."

Kiba sat him down on the ground and started to play with him a bit. He gently tapped Kurama's nose and made pretend snaps at him while the fox retaliated with play bites of his own, "Yeah, I knew that he would."

Naruto scratched the back of his head and looked at the two happily. He was already glad that he picked Kiba as Kurama's vet. His new favorite fox seemed safe in his hands. Before long, Naruto got on the ground and started to play with him too, mimicking Kiba's behavior. It was going to be a fun afternoon.

* * *

Fu and Kakuzu had switched from talking about business to talking about more personal things. They discussed how Fu's relationship was going and how Kakuzu's health was, both of which were doing pretty well all in all. The only thing that seemed to be going wrong for the two of them right now was their businesses.

Sasori was still focus on making a new variation of his favorite poison and Hidan was reading some kind of weird looking book with some symbols on it, but Pakura had stopped playing with matches and was actually listening to what they had to say. When Fu mentioned that she was considering heading to one of her favorite restaurants for dinner, Pakura piped up, "Huh, that's the place Zabuza is taking me tonight."

Everyone knew who Zabuza was, so they turned and asked at the same time, "You and Zabuza?"

Pakura didn't see what the big deal was, "Yes, we happen to be quite fond of each other. He finds my love of flame cute and I find ability to kill quite impressive."

Fu just had to shake her head, "It's kind of weird that those are considered to be desirable traits in the business we're in."

Kakuzu didn't see it that way, "Our line of work is all about blood, guts, and money. They try and make it look all glamorous in the movies, but in the end we're just trying to survive. If you can survive around here, money just kind of tends to find you. Like I said though, you have to live to get it."

Fu knew what he said was true, "Yeah, that's why we created the Nine Kings. Most of us would be dead now if it wasn't for everything we've set up. I just hope we're all still alive when the dust clears, ya know?"

Kakuzu knew it alright, "It's a miracle I've lived as long as I have, that's for sure."

Fu looked at her watch, "You're one old motherfucker, that's for sure. How you've done it, I've got no clue. Hey, I'm gonna have to go Uncle Kakuzu, it was really great getting to see you again though. I don't want to keep Naruto waiting for too long."

Kakuzu stood up and hugged Fu goodbye, "That's fine, just don't be a stranger. Come by as soon as you can."

Fu waved bye to the others as she walked to the door, "I always do."

* * *

Sasuke looked around the room he was standing in to see it had become a completely bloody mess. He had an Uzi with a silencer in his hand which was covered with blood, his clothes had dots of blood on them as well. The blood had begun to soak into the carpet as well.

Orochimaru looked around the room in approval, "I just hoping you could protect me, but you've gone above and beyond with this little stunt."

Sasuke looked at Orochimaru and glared at him, "You didn't tell me that drugs were stored right in Gato's freaking safe house. You're lucky I decided to bring my Uzi for crying out loud! I was planning on just bringing a handgun until I got a bad feeling about this stuff. Looks like I was right."

Orochimaru shrugged it off and opened the briefcase on they dying Gato's desk, "Oh well, I've got what I need. These should be perfect for my experiments."

Gato was laying on the ground, trying to talk, "...I'll get...you...dammit...Orochimaru…"

Sasuke walked over to him and pointed the Uzi at his head, "Shut the fuck up you Penguin wanna be."

He fired off one one shot into Gato's head and Orochimaru asked, "Penguin wanna be?"

Sasuke just kind of shrugged, "The Penguin, you know from Batman? He's all short and he's a crime lord."

Orochimaru suddenly got it, "Oh yes, now I see it. Very funny Mr. Uchiha, very funny indeed."

"Thanks, I guess," Sasuke said nonchalantly, "Is that everything that you need?"

Orochimaru was still looking around the room and was more than satisfied, "Nope, this all seems pretty much perfect to me. You and I should work together more often. We'd have an awful lot of fun."

Sasuke took a few steps back, "...Are you coming on to me?"

Orochimaru ground his teeth in anger, "No, I'm not coming on to you. I was just saying that the two of us could have some dark, bloody fun, that's all."

Sasuke strapped the Uzi to his back, "I don't kill for pleasure, I kill for profit."

Orochimaru didn't approve, "Tsk tsk, so much wasted potential. You could do so much with the skill you have."

Sasuke wanted to puke at the very thought of working with this guy, "I think I'll just keep working solo, but thanks."

Orochimaru closed the briefcase and picked it up, "Oh well, I suppose that it'll be enough fun to just hear about your exploits."

Sasuke still felt like this guy was hitting on him, which creeped the shit out of him as a straight man, but didn't say anything. Doing all of this for Orochimaru was sure fire way to gain Madara's trust. It was just the next step in making sure everyone was safe.

* * *

Killer Bee wasn't in the best mood right now. His brother seemed absolutely certain that if left to his own devices, Bee would find a way to to get into trouble. Bee was a little insulted by that. Granted, he didn't always make the best choices, but Bee wasn't a total fool. He could take care of himself just fine.

Bee was cooped up in his office right now, waiting for A to finishing looking over his plan so that he could approve them. That was one of the problems with having your brother as your body gaurd. You couldn't just tell him to fuck off, you just had to wait and listen, "Man this fucken sucks. A really needs to stop causing such a ruckus!"

He looked at the wall to see his line of various alcohols all stacked up on the wall. Most of them were gifts from his clients, drug lords who were pleased with the deals he'd given them. In the span of a week he usually got four or five bottles of various liquors. People knew that he didn't do drugs, but he loved a nice drink. So, to stay on good terms with him, that's what they sent. They didn't always send a note with them, but Bee was happy to receive them.

There were two news ones today, one decent bottle of whisky and one very nice bottle of bourbon, Bee's favorite. He picked up the bottle and poured himself a glass, "A's acting like a dick, so I'll just get licked! Aw yeah...that one didn't even make sense to me…"

He just took a sip of the bourbon and sighed happily. Bourbon was always something he loved...although this one didn't seem to love him back. Before he knew what was going on, Bee started to cough and found it hard to breath.

He fell to the ground and A heard the thump from the other room. Soon he ran into the room and saw his brother was hacking up a lung on the floor. A grabbed his phone and dialed as fast as he could, "Hello Naruto? It's Bee, something's wrong with him! I think someone sent him a tainted bottle of bourbon! Can I take him to see Tsunade?"

Naruto quickly said, "_Of course, I'll call her right away! Just get Bee there!"_

A hung up and picked up his brother, "Come on Bee, don't you dare fucking do this to me! You've gotta make it."

With that A ran out of the room and prayed he could make it to Tsunade in time. His brother's life could very well be hanging in the balance.


	7. Strenght From Others

Hey everybody, welcome to the next epic installment of Nine Crimes, Nine Kings. Last time I left you all with a cliffhanger involving Bee. I do hope you're all ready for the conclusion of that. On a side note, I do hope you all enjoyed the lemon in the last chapter. It was one of my more decent lemons considering the ones I've written before it. Now, let's get to the main event. The next big chapter begins now.

* * *

Tsunade Senju was one of the finest medical professionals ever to be put on the face of the earth. She could diagnose almost any disease, knew the best possible treatment for just about anything, and was even a very talented surgeon. Anyone would be more than happy to be in her very capable hands. However, she'd only recently picked up her old profession once again. After the death of her lover Dan to the same fatal disease that took her little brother, Tsunade went into a dark depression. All she had been able to do was try and drink her pain away.

That all changed when Naruto formed the Nine Kings. Jiraiya had told Naruto about Tsunade and the young man felt very bad for her. Not to mention he was good friends with Jiraiya and it was clear how much Tsunade's drinking hurt him. It had taken a lot of doing, but Naruto did manage to get Tsunade off the bottle. He reminded her so much of her little brother that she just couldn't stop herself from listening to him.

Now she was Naruto's personal doctor, taking care of him and doing favors whenever he needed him to. He needed a big favor right now, since Bee was almost on death's doorstep. She had set up a small office for herself, with the help of Naruto's money, and she had more than enough equipment in it to take care of Bee.

A was pacing back and forth outside the office door, praying that his brother would be alright. Naruto and Fu came running up to him. They began to bombard him with questions, "What's up with Bee? Is he okay? What the hell happened?"

A snapped at them, "He's dying, I don't know if he's okay, and it looks like that sick fuck Madara sent him some kind tainted Bourbon!"

Naruto and Fu realized A wasn't in the mood for questions right now. Fu apologized, "Sorry A, we're just worried about our friend, that's all."

There were chairs outside the office and A sat down in one of them, "I didn't mean to snap at you like that...I just don't want to lose my brother...who else is coming?"

Naruto had almost forgotten about that part, "Gaara's coming, but all of the other kings were busy right now. I didn't tell them much, just that Bee was in the hospital."

A was happy that anyone was coming to see Bee at all, "I'm glad that someone else cares," A mumbled as a fox came out of nowhere and jumped in his lap, "What the hell?"

The fox put his paws on the large man's chest and started to lick his face. Naruto laughed and began to explain, "That's my fox, Kurama. Animals are really good at reading human emotion, so he was just trying to cheer you up."

A wanted to be his usual grouchy self, but just couldn't do it, "Would you get off of...oh, what the hell."

A started to pet the fox while Naruto and Fu just watched with amusement. Soon Gaara came as well, very confused at the sight, "What in the fuck…"

Naruto just waved it off, "I'll tell you about it later. We don't know how Bee's doing yet. We're just waiting for Tsunade to come out and tell us."

Speak of the devil, that's right when Tsunade came out, her blond hair was tied back in a ponytail and she was wearing green scrubs, "Son of bitch, that was a hard one."

A put Kurama down and asked urgently, "Is Bee okay? Is he gonna make it?"

Tsunade leaned back on the wall and sighed, "Yeah, you got him here just in time. A couple minutes longer and he could've very well died."

A raised his hand up and shook Tsunade's, "Thank you so much. Just...thank you so much."

Tsunade didn't think anything of it, "I'm happy to do it. Any friend of Naruto's is a friend of mine."

A motioned to the door, "Can I go in and see him?"

Tsunade smiled and nodded, "Of course. He's awake, but I don't know for how much longer. Just don't get him too riled up, he's still a little weak."

A didn't need to hear anymore. He opened the door and went right in to see his brother. Naruto turned to Tsunade and gave her a quick hug, "Like he said Tsunade, thanks. I owe you one."

Tsunade felt he didn't owe her anything, but still accepted the hug, "Come on Naruto, you know I love to help you. Nice to see you guys too, Fu, Gaara."

Fu gave a little wave and said, "Hi."

Gaara gave a more somber nod and a brief, "Hello."

Naruto had one big question on his mind right now, "What the hell was in that bourbon that he had that kind of reaction to?"

Tsunade had a hard time figuring that out herself, "That took me a while to figure out. His throat was closing up and I remembered in his file that he's allergic to certain types medications," Naruto had given Tsunade all of the King's files, "So I stopped looking for poisons and started treating it like an allergic reaction. Low and behold, he started to get better."

Fu scratched her chin, "Wait, how did this guy know what kind of medication Bee was allergic to?"

That was another one Tsunade could answer easily, "It wouldn't be hard to figure out for someone with access to medical records. Any doctor could figure it out."

Naruto mumbled under his breath, "Orochimaru...that son of bitch did it again."

Tsunade heard the name almost instantly, "Did you just say Orochimaru?"

Naruto hated the man, and he'd never even met him, "Yup, your old buddy from the coroner's office has been causing us a lot of problems."

Tsunade didn't exactly like the way Naruto had put that, even if it had been sarcastically "Believe me, we're not buddies. That man is a fucking psycho who should be shot between the eyes. What does he have to do with any of this?"

Naruto mulled over how much he wanted to tell her, "Well, I can't tell you everything, but most of the Orochimaru stuff I'll fill you in on. Do me a favor and don't tell anyone else about this stuff. We're trying to keep it really hush hush right now, ya know?"

Tsunade waved his worries off, "Yeah yeah, just get to the point already."

Naruto could see she was eager, so he started to tell her what she wanted to know. She knew a little bit of it already, since A had to tell her a few things to save Bee, but most of what Naruto said was new to Tsunade. Once Naruto finished speaking, she just kind of shook her head, "I knew he'd never just go clean. He was doing some pretty fucked up things when he was a coroner, I just couldn't prove it."

Naruto had heard the same thing from Jiraiya, "He's a slippery little snake."

"That he is. Bee's doing fine now, you guys should probably go and the tell the other kings that he's alright," Tsunade said before she walked away,

Gaara reminded everyone that he was there by saying, "She's right Naruto. This is the first time a king's life's been gone after, and they need reassurance that it wasn't successful."

Fu was wondering something, "Didn't Jiraiya say that Madara probably wasn't gonna try and kill us?"

Naruto had already figured that one out, "He was proving a point. Madara was making sure that we knew, if we wanted us dead, we'd be dead. Right now he doesn't know that we know who he is, so he thinks that we think he's just a mysteriously powerful stranger."

Gaara's head hurt just from listening to that, "Naruto, what the fuck are you talking about?"

Even Fu was lost, "Sweetie, you're not making a ton of sense right now."

Naruto was starting to understand how Jiraiya felt when he was explaining thing, "Just let me call the other king and I'll tell them what happened. I don't want us meeting up right now and getting into a huge argument, so a call seems like the best choice."

Gaara and Fu agreed, "Okay, but we'll make some of the calls too. It'll go by faster that way."

Naruto wasn't going to argue, "Sounds good. Let's get this damn thing over with. I just know all of these guys are gonna be pissed."

* * *

When Kakashi got into the precinct, he quickly found that it was gonna be a rough day. Yamato was on the phone and he looked very excited, which told Kakashi that things were about to get complicated for him and Naruto. He saw Yamato hung up the phone and then came right for him, "Kakashi, you're not gonna believe this! I think I've got something that could lead me to how I'm gonna take down Naruto."

Kakashi let out a small, irritated groan and took a sip of his coffee, "Dammit Yamato, how many times do I need to tell you? Drop this thing already before you shoot your own career in the head."

Yamato just kept grinning, "You've gotta hear what I've got to say first. I just got off the phone with a friend of mine and he said that Naruto went to visit a suspected drug dealer named Killer Bee. Maybe he's using or maybe he's dealing, but I'm sure Naruto involved somehow!"

Kakashi brought his hand up and smack Yamato in the back of the head, "I've said it once and I'll say it again, drop it! You keep going off from if's and maybe's. You've brought that guy in so many times that any jury would be sure you've got a personal vendetta against him. Thanks to you, we'll need mountain of evidence just to have a chance at convicting him."

Yamato tried to object, "But,"

Kakashi wasn't interested in what he had to say, "No, go find another case to work! If you keep up this shit with Naruto, you're going to get kicked off the force and I'm not going to help you if you do!"

Yamato wanted to keep objecting, but chose not to. It was just too futile. Once he'd walked away, Rin came up behind Kakashi, "You were awfully hard on him."

Kakashi scoffed, "I'm just trying to protect him and Naruto. I've got both of their best interests at heart."

Rin knew that was true, "Fair enough. So Naruto's at the hospital,"

Kakashi didn't wait to hear anything, "He's at the hospital? Why am I just finding out about this now? I swear, if Madara did anything to him, I'll,"

Rin could see she hadn't started that right, "Woah, slow down Kakashi. He's just there to visit Bee. I guess Yamato wasn't clear about that part."

Kakashi nearly had a heart attack, "No, he wasn't. Don't fucking scare me like that Rin!"

Rin felt a little bad, "Sorry about that. Jeeze Kakashi, I've never seen you get that worried before."

Kakashi rolled his eyes, "Well yeah, I thought Naruto might be hurt. It was like it was happening all over again."

Rin caught that last part, "What was happening all over again?"

Kakashi suddenly realized that he'd said too much, "Nothing, I was just talking to myself."

Rin couldn't let this go, "It's not nothing Kakashi. Tell me what you meant by, 'It was like it was happening all over again.'"

Kakashi wanted to try and talk his way out of this one, but he knew better than to try that on Rin, "Come on Rin, you know what I'm talking about. My father, my captain, and Obito, three of the most important people in my life, have all gotten hurt. It seems to follow those that are around me. I know Obito didn't get physically hurt, but I still feel like his life was ruined because of me."

Rin hadn't ever seen this side of Kakashi, "Wow, you really feel like that stuff was your fault, don't you?"

Kakashi could see a pretty clear pattern, "Of course I do. That's the whole reason I didn't take Naruto right off the bat. My father killed himself and Minato was blown the hell up. I didn't really have a good father track record."

Rin found the whole thing insane, "Kakashi, why didn't you just come and talk to me about all this? I'm sure we could've worked something out."

Kakashi found that unlikely, "Yeah, I'd tell you that I'm a horrible person who gets everyone around him hurt. That seems like a real good idea."

Rin gave a Kakashi a light smack on the back of the head, "You're not a bad person, you're just an idiot sometimes."

Kakashi started to pull out his phone, "Fair enough I guess. I've gotta call Sasuke and get an update. It's been a couple of days, so hopefully he's made at least a little bit of progress with the whole Madara thing."

Rin couldn't interrupt that, "You do that. Hopefully we'll get some good news from him."

"Like maybe that we can put a bullet in that crazy old fuck's head," Kakashi muttered as he started to dial.

* * *

Sasuke told Kakashi everything he could when he called, which was a surprising amount considering it had just a couple of days. Madara was very pleased with Sasuke work and he'd definitely warmed up to the boy a little bit. Still though, Sasuke didn't feel comfortable enough to ask Madara where the info was yet. It was a good start, but he still had a ways to go.

They weren't on the phone for long because Kakashi didn't want to get noticed on his cellphone for too long and Sasuke was supposed to go and visit with Madara again. He had another thing to ask of Sasuke, which the young man was happy to do. Anything to keep the ball rolling for them.

Before long Sasuke was walking through the empty halls of Madara's mansion. He had already thought of somethings to say to Madara once he found him, something that would get his oversized ego going. That was the best way to get to Madara, making his head even bigger than it had been before.

Once Sasuke got into his room, Madara started in on him, "There you are Sasuke. I must say, you did very well. If you keep this up, we'll have the kings taken down in no time."

Sasuke had to fight to keep from rolling to his eyes, "That would be the point of all this. So didn't you say you had some kind of job for me?"

Madara grinned at him, "Right to the point, I like it. Yes, I've set up another task for you to complete. You see, money is no longer going to be an issue for the kings, we're going to have to focus on the physical attacks from now on."

Sasuke of course had to ask, "How do you know money is no longer going to be an issue for them?"

Madara figured he should explain that, "Fu is apparently the niece of a famous black market money lender named Kakuzu. He's agreed to extend his usual due date for the kings at Fu's request. They'll still pay him back, he's just giving them more time than he usually does."

Sasuke saw he had an opportunity to ask a very important question, "How in the hell do you know all of this?"

Madara mulled over whether or not he wanted to give the full truth to his grandson, "I've got a mole who's telling me all of this."

Sasuke decided to take a calculated risk, "Who the hell were you able to turn that knew that much? I thought Naruto's organization was all secretive and shit. You've gotta be pretty damn smart to pull that off."

Sasuke's plan to buff up Madara's ego worked, as he just had to brag after hearing that, "You see, the beauty of it is, my mole's not even actually in the king's organization."

"Wait a minute, how could someone in not in king's organization know that much..." Sasuke started to ask, then realized something, "Kakuzu! Fu must be telling him things and one of his men is overhearing it or something. That's how you've gotten all this info."

Madara was impressed that Sasuke had figured it out, "Kakuzu would never turn on his niece, but one of his men is more than willing to, for the right price."

Sasuke wanted to ask specifically who it was, but he wasn't stupid enough to ask. That would get Madara to suspicious. He would call Kakashi as soon as he could and tell Kakuzu to start checking out his men. For now, he needed to keep up the rouse with Madara, "Man, that's all pretty genius. So anyways, back to the matter at hand, what did you want me to do for you this time."

Madara had something special in mind for this one, "This one is for that bitch Yugito. I had to deal with her back when I worked in the business world, and she's one of the most insufferable people I've ever met. She was always certain she was right, screwed me over at every chance she got, and had an ego that was bigger than her actual company. Have you ever had to deal with someone like that?"

Sasuke could think of someone, but didn't say so that he could keep himself out of trouble, "No, not that I can think of."

Madara really hated Yugito, "Thanks to your work with Gato, I've got something perfect setup for her. I'm assuming that you left no physical evidence at the crime scene?"

Sasuke almost felt a little insulted that he would even ask, "I'm more than good enough not to leave anything behind. What does Gato have to do with Yugito?"

Madara got an evil smirk on his face, "Gato did some work with Yugito for some of his more legal business ventures. Thanks to their business relationship, I've got just what I need to screw her over."

Sasuke had a bad feeling about this, but he needed to do as Madara said, "Sounds good. What do I need to do?"

* * *

While Sasuke was busy hearing about who all he had to fuck with this time, Zabuza was waiting for his date to arrive at the restaurant. Zabuza and Pakura had begun to date under circumstance that definitely wouldn't be considered normal. It had all started a month ago when someone who worked for Yugura had borrowed money from Kakuzu and was completely unable to pay it back. Kakuzu was going to rip his heart out like he'd did to everyone who didn't pay, but Yagura still needed the guy.

After much arguing, the two settled on a deal that would allow Yagura's man to live. If either Zabuza or Kisame agreed to help Pakura with a little something she'd been working on for Kakuzu, he'd let the debt go. Of course Zabuza and Kisame wouldn't be paid for this, which was a problem for Kisame. He didn't do anything for free. That pretty much meant Zabuza had to do it by default.

Pakura was going to burn down a loan sharks building under Kakuzu's orders. The fool who owned the place had the balls to open a place like that in Kakuzu's territory. It was easy for him to take care off, thanks to Pakura's love of all things fire related. However, he needed some muscle to gun down a couple of guys who were gonna be standing in Pakura's way. No one too tough, it would just be kind of a pain if Pakura had to take them out and try and light a fire that couldn't be traced back to her. That was where Zabuza came in. He'd just kill the guys let Pakura do the rest.

It all went just fine. In fact, it almost went a little too well. Zabuza couldn't help but notice the glint in Pakura's eyes as she burned the house to the ground and Pakura was amazed at the Zabuza's ability to kill a man without making so much as a sound. Without even thinking about it, he asked Pakura out for dinner and the two hit it off even more. One night in bed together later and the two had been dating ever since.

As Zabuza was thinking about all this, Pakura got to the restaurant and sat down with her boyfriend at the table, "Hello Zabuza, sorry I'm late. There was a building burning on my way here and I got rather distracted."

Zabuza should've known, "Haha, that's my little firebug! So how've you been?"

Pakura shrugged, "Same shit, different day. You know how it is."

Zabuza didn't feel like that today, "I wish. Yagura borrowed money for Kakuzu, but he didn't borrow enough to pay for me and Kisame's services. He said that he only wanted to take out enough to pay for what he absolutely had to. What an asshole. I swear, if there was a job out there for me that would pay even close to what Yagura usually does, I'd blow his head off in a second."

Pakura liked Kakuzu quite a bit, so she couldn't really relate, "Maybe you'll get that chance one day. I love my job."

Zabuza scoffed a little and took a sip of his drink, "Well ya, you get do what you love and your boss treats you good. Mine's a fucking selfish nutjob."

Pakura smiled a little bit, "My boss is the best of the best. He let's me do almost anything that I wish, as long as it doesn't come back to bite him in the ass later."

Zabuza raised his eyebrows a little bit, "I'll tell you one thing, I'd like to bite that tight little ass of yours."

Pakura blushed a little, but giggle too. "Maybe later, if you're lucky," she said as her phone went off. She pulled up an answered a text, "Or maybe not."

Zabuza looked a little heartbroken, "Oh come on, what's wrong now?"

Pakura looked a little distraut, "Kakuzu wants to see me right away. He says's that it's super important. No way I can let him wait."

Zabuza just couldn't catch a break today, "Great, so another thing doesn't pan out today."

Pakura stood up to leave, but gave him a little kiss on the cheek before she did, "I promise to come over later and work all that stress out of you. How does that sound?"

Zabuza's mood got a lot better when he heard that, "Now that's more like it. Drop by my place whenever you like."

"I always do," Pakura said, as she walked away.

* * *

Kakuzu had never been this angry in his entire life. His blood was boiling with rage, more rage than he even knew he could feel. One of his men had betrayed him! Him of all people! Didn't they know who he was? He was one of the most important people in all of the Konoha crime world. How dare they try and play him like that!

He'd just gotten a call from Naruto fifteen minutes ago, and apparently his mole had managed to get Madara to admit that the leak was in Kakuzu's organization. When he thought about it, it actually made perfect sense. No one would think to look at his people after all.

As he paced angrily around his his office, Pakura knocked on the door and opened it. She poked her head inside, "Hey Kakuzu, is this a good time?"

"No, but come in anyways," Kakuzu grumpled.

Pakura may not have been great at reading emotions, but she could tell Kakuzu was upset easily enough, "What's so important sir? You seem pretty pissed off about something."

Kakuzu smash his hand on his desk, "Pissed off? I'm way beyond pissed off!"

Pakura took a couple of steps back, "Okay, I get the idea. What the hell happened?"

Kakuzu grabbed a lamp of his desk and smashed it, "One of my men fucking betrayed me! They listened in to what Fu and I were talking about and sold the fucking information to people who are after Fu!"

Pakura got nervous all of sudden, "Wait, are you saying that you think it's me?"

Kakuzu figured that'd be her first question, "Of course not, if I thought it was you I would've killed you already. You weren't here the day Fu told me about that art, so there's no way you could've been the one who sold me out."

Pakura calmed down, "Oh thank god, I'd like my heart to stay in my chest. So if not me, then who?"

Kakuzu had thought all of this through, "The only people who knew enough to pull all this off are Hidan and Sasori. Problem is, I have no clue which one it was. Neither of them have given me enough of a reason to trust them, but they haven't said anything that would make me think they're traitors either. I've got nothing to work with here."

Pakura felt a little bad for him, but had to ask, "Why did you call me? What do I think I could do about all this?"

Kakuzu was counting on her, "Both of those men are worth a hell of a lot of money. If I just killed them both, it would take me ages to replace them. They wouldn't admit anything if I just interrogated them and it'd cost me money if I tortured them, mainly because I'd have to pay for the one who survive's hospital bills."

Pakura knew that was. Kakuzu didn't mess around when he wanted info out of someone, "Are you saying that you want me to investigate this and I find out if it was Sasori or Hidan?"

Kakuzu had a feeling she'd get the whole thing figured out, "I want you to find out which one it is and kill them."

Pakura looked excited, "I've just got one question."

Kakuzu already knew what she was gonna ask, "Yes, you can burn them to death."

Pakura grinned victoriously, "That's all I need to know. I'll burn the shit out of the bastard!"

Considering he wanted this guy to suffer, Kakuzu knew he'd chosen correctly, "Sounds perfect. I'm assuming that you'll be able to figure out who it is one your own. I've got somethings of my own I need to work on, so I can't help you much."

Pakura didn't need help, "I'll be able to figure out who it is without any problem. They won't even know I've got them figured out until I'm standing next to them with the match."

Kakuzu was feeling a little better now, "That'll work out just fine. That's all I need from you for now. I hope that I didn't take up too much of your time."

Pakura remember that Zabuza was likely still up, "No, it's fine. I can still salvage the night pretty easily. I'll see you later."

Kakuzu waved by to her as she left, "Alright, see you later."

Pakura started to leave and she called Zabuza, "Hey Zabuza, you still feel like meeting up tonight?"

Zabuza more than felt like it, "_Do you even have to ask? Meet me at my place in like 15 minutes. I'll give a workout you'll never forget."_

"I'll be there soon. We'll see who works out who," Pakura warned him and hung up. It was still gonna be a fun night.

* * *

The next morning, Naruto was finally starting to feel like he was making some headway against Madara. They almost had his mole pinned down, which would be a huge victory. If the mole wasn't there to watch feed Madara information, they might actually able to trick him into screwing himself over.

That's why he was heading off to see Jiraiya. Naruto was hoping the old man could tell them what they should be doing once Madara's mole was taken out. Naruto had some smart people advising him, but it couldn't hurt to have Jiraiya's opinion on all this stuff.

He got to Jiraiya's house and knocked on the door, just like he always did. However, Jiraiya didn't answer as quickly as he usually did. It was taking him more time than it really should, which had Naruto nervous. Did something happen to his surrogate grandfather?

Finally Jiraiya answered the door, but he didn't look quite right. He was rubbing his head as if he was in a lot of pain, "Dammit Naruto, why do you gotta knock so hard?"

Naruto figured he must have a headache and looked pretty nauseous, "Shit man, did you get drunk last night?"

"Did you figure that one out all on your own genius?" Jiraiya growled, and motioned for Naruto to come inside.

It had been a while since Naruto had seen Jiraiya like this, "What did you get drunk for? Something happen last night?"

Jiraiya went into the kitchen and poured himself a cup of coffee, "Don't you remember what's coming up...oh, did you want a cup?"

Naruto could use some coffee, "Thanks, that'd be great. What's coming up?"

Jiraiya handed Naruto one cup and took the other, "It's almost October kid. Yesterday marked twenty five years since Minato first told me he was gonna be made captain and it was almost time for Kushina to have you."

That had completely slipped Naruto's mind, "Wow, it's that time again already. I'm gonna be 25 soon, aren't I?"

Jiraiya took a sip of his coffee, hoping the caffeine would sooth his head, "Yes, you will be. I was thinking about that last night and hopeful seemed. He was gonna change everything. Now he's just gone...and everything's gone to hell…"

Naruto really wanted to cheer him up, "Oh come man, it's not all bad. We're finally starting to get Madara back a little bit. Everything's gonna be fine soon."

Jiraiya just kept sipping on his coffee, "That's not what I meant kid. I was talking about you and Kakashi. You're a fucking crime lord and he's a dirty cop for shit sake. Minato wouldn't have wanted any of this and he'd hate me for letting it happen."

Naruto felt a little ping of guilt when he said that, "Come on, you know that I'm happy. I've got you and Fu, Kakashi and Rin a little bit too."

Jiraiya looked down into his coffee cup and muttered, "I'm worried about the kind of person you are. Minato fought and died to stop the very thing you're becoming. How am I supposed to feel about that?"

"...I really don't know," Naruto told him honestly, "This is just who I've kind of become. The only way I've ever been able to find success in this world is through crime. It's all I know how to do."

Jiraiya knew that was the truth, "Doesn't mean that I feel any better. I could teach you ya know? I could help learn how to get out of that life."

Naruto scratched the back of his head, "Jiraiya, you know that I can't do that."

Jiraiya sighed and sipped his coffee, "Ya I know. So what did you come here for?"

Naruto wasn't worried about Madara anymore, he just wanted to cheer up Jiraiya, "Don't worry about it. How about we do something fun for today? We could go see a movie, go to a shooting range, something like that."

Jiraiya didn't object to the idea, but he didn't seem super excited about it either, "Alright, that sounds like it'd be nice."

Naruto could see that he needed to pull out the big guns, "Will you excuse me for just a second? I need to call someone real quick."

"Sure, my coffee needs a couple of minutes to kick in anyways," Jiraiya told him.

Naruto stood up and went to a side room to make his call. It took a couple of seconds, but the person on the other end soon answered, "_Hello?"_

Naruto was she answered, "Hey Tsunade, it's Naruto. I'm at Jiraiya's right now and I was wondering if you could come over and help me cheer him up."

"_Cheer him up? What the hell's got the old pervert in a bad mood to begin with?" _Tsunade asked skeptically.

Naruto explained what they'd been talking about and Tsunade started to feel kind of bad, "_Well shit...I guess that I could come by and try to improve his mood. But if he starts to hit on me,"_

Naruto didn't need her to finish, "Then you're free to leave. Just get here quick. I've never seen him depressed before. It's kind of creepy."

After Naruto hung up, he spent the next 20 minutes trying to keep Jiraiya's mood from getting any worse. Naruto didn't blame the guy for seeming kind of upset. Nothing in his life went as he'd planned it. In fact, he was impressed with the man's ability to make the best out of what he'd been given. Yet, even guys like that needed to be cheered up from time to time.

That's why Naruto was very glad when Tsunade finally arrived. When Jiraiya had gotten up to answer the door, Naruto told him to sit down and that he'd get it. It would be better if it was a surprise.

He got the door and opened in up to see Tsunade dressed in casual clothing, a green tank top and sweat pants. Even at her age, she still looked damn good in them, "Hey Tsunade, glad you could make. Jiraiya really needs some friends right now."

Tsunade just walked in, "Whatever, not like I was doing anything else. So where is he?"

Before Naruto could answer, Tsunade walked right into the kitchen where Jiraiya was sitting, "Hey Tsunade, what are you doing here?"

Tsunade had been hung over enough times to tell that Jiraiya had gotten shitfaced the night before, "A little birdy told me that you've got a bad hangover, so I figured an old pro like me would be the best one to come over and help you. Mind if I get some coffee?"

Jiraiya shrugged, "No, help yourself."

Naruto sat back down his chair and Tsunade soon joined them, "So what the hell's got your patines up in a bunch?"

Naruto nearly spit out his coffee, "Way to be subtle there Tsunade."

"If you wanted subtle, then you should've call someone else," Tsunade said, taking a sip from her cup.

Jiraiya looked at Tsunade and Naruto, "What are you guy's talking about? Sure I was a little down last night, but I just had some bad memories come up. You guys must have felt like that before?"

Naruto couldn't deny that, "I've got some bad memories of my time in foster care. Some of those assholes were rough."

"And I can't say that I never think about the day I watched Dan die in the hospital," Tsunade added in.

Jiraiya felt the need to tell them, "Sure, it can be rough at times, but that's just life. You guy's don't need to come and cheer me up just for that. I can handle myself just fine, I'm a grown man afterall."

Naruto thought about it for a second, but then said, "I get that you don't need us to take care of you, but that's not why we do it in the first place. You're our family Jiraiya, we don't try and make feel better because we have to, we do it because we want to."

Tsunade took a sip of her coffee and said, "Yeah, what the kid said."

Jiraiya slowly started to smile, "Well, what else can I say to you guys but thank you?"

Naruto was glad he'd perked up a bit, but he didn't have much time to enjoy it. Out of nowhere, Naruto's cell phone started to go off like crazy. He hated how much he had to use the fucking thing, "I swear, I'm gonna smash it into a damn wall one of these days."

He answered the phone and Jiraiya and Tsunade waited to see what he would say. All of a sudden Naruto groaned out loud, "Oh fuck me! Yeah, I'll be there as soon as I can."

Jiraiya was wondering what the problem was now, "Another issue?"

Naruto got up and finished his cup of coffee, "You got that right. Yugito's one of the prime suspects in a murder investigation."

Tsunade couldn't help but ask, "Did she do it?"

"No, she's innocent with this one. If she'd done it, she would've just told me," Naruto replied, understanding why Tsunade would ask. Yugito had done some pretty crazy things during her run as a crime lord, " Apparently she used to work with a guy named Gato and the guy ripped her off on some deal. It was years ago, but it still qualifies as a motive. I don't know the full details yet, but supposedly there's some evidence that might point to her. They haven't charged her yet, but doesn't mean they won't. I've gotta go clear all of this shit up and figure out what's going on. Talk to you guy's later."

They both told him goodbye and the young blonde left to save his friend's ass. Jiraiya turned to Tsunade and asked, "So did you really mean what you said before, about liking to cheer me up?"

Tsunade thought about lying, but she know better than to try that, "Yes, I do. Just don't let it go to your head!"

Jiraiya just smiled, "Don't wanna risk you smacking me, now do I?"

Tsunade gave him a playful glare from behind her coffee, "No, you don't."

They sat there quietly for a few seconds, and Tsunade looked at Jiraiya like she was waiting for something. Finally Jiraiya asked, "What?"

"I'm waiting for you to make some kind of perverted joke," Tsunade explained, "You never miss a chance when you're around."

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow, "We were having a nice moment. You came all this way just to cheer me up and we had a great little chat. I just didn't want to ruin it for once."

Tsunade looked shocked for a couple of seconds. The man was actually controlling his perverted nature. She mulled something over in her head for a few seconds, then took Jiraiya's hand and lead him away from the table, "Tsunade, what are you doing?"

Tsunade put a finger to his lips, "You're being very sweet today, and to be honest...it's been awhile for me. I haven't had sex since Dan left, and believe me, my body knows it. We're going to go up stairs and make love. However, you're not to tell anyone about this unless I say you can."

Jiraiya tired to think of something to say, "Of course not, I would never do something like that."

Tsunade knew he was telling the truth, "I know that you wouldn't. Now come on."

As she continued to lead him, Jiraiya wondered out loud, "Is this like a one time thing, or what?"

Tsunade gave him a mischievous smirked, "Who knows? Maybe if this goes we'll make it a regular thing."

Jiraiya picked her up bridal style, "Challenge accepted!"

* * *

Yugito really didn't know how to feel about all of was the closest she'd ever been to going to prison, and it was for a crime she didn't even commit! Sure, she and Gato had their problems in the past, but that was ages ago. He cost her 50,000$, which was a lot of money to her back then. Now she wouldn't even bend over to pick up 50 grand. She didn't kill him, but how could she prove it dammit?

While she was busy wondering, someone burst into her office unannounced. It was a beautiful woman with long black hair that Yugito thought she's seen with Naruto before, "Who the hell are you? What gives you the right to burst into my office?"

The one set her briefcase on a nearby desk, "My name is Kurenai Yuhi and Naruto sent me. From this point forward, I'm your attorney."

"I've already got a great a attorney," Yugito scoffed.

Kurenai opened briefcase and started to thumb through it, "Not like me you don't. Sorry if I'm being frank here, but time is of the essence. I need you to tell me all of the evidence that they have on your right now that could connect you to Gato's murder."

Yugito could see she wasn't in a position to negotiate, so she tried to remember, "Um, they said they had some emails and bank statements that could've pointed to me paying a hitman."

Kurenai wrote that down on a pad of paper, "Circumstantial at best. The only motive they got is the money from back when you worked with Gato, correct?"

Yugito nodded dumbly, "That's the only time I've ever talked to the guy, so yeah."

Kurenai was feeling more and more confident, "Is that all, or is there more?"

Yugito kept trying to think, "I don't know, the cops who talked to me wouldn't tell me shit. It was like talking to a wall."

Kurenai knew what she was talking about, "They didn't tell you anything that you didn't already know. That's how they do it. Give nothing, take everything and all that shit. If this is all they've got and they're just bluffing, you're safe. If this isn't a scare tactic and there's more, we could be in for trouble. My boyfriend, Asuma Sarutobi, should be able to help me out with some of what I need. That's all I require from you right now. Thanks for your time."

Yugito nearly asked more, but Kurenai practically ran out of the room. This wasn't a woman who fucked around. If she wanted something done, she got it done! There was only one thing Yugito could think to say as she left the room, "Holy shit…"


	8. Relaxing

Hello my loyal readers, and welcome to the 8th chapter of Nine Crimes, Nine Kings. Now, I don't know if I mentioned this before, but I intend to do Nine Crimes, Nine Kings in seasons sort of like a television show. I'll finish one story line each season, take a break from writing them, then move on to the next season. Most likely I'll set up each new season as a new fanfic, and just name it something like Nine Crimes, Nine Kings: Season Two or something. It'll be the exact same storyline and it will pick up where first one left off. I'm blabbering far too much, so lets get on with the fanfic.

* * *

Naruto's less than pleased voice echoed through his empty apartment as he talked with Kurenai on his phone. It had been a long day yesterday, but Naruto had seemed to have gotten everything straightened out. Kurenai had called Kakashi to get the down low on what all they had on Yugito, and it wasn't much. Apparently, Madara had Sasuke plant some old documents about Yugito and Gato right into the police's lap. It was enough to get them interested in Yugito and try to make her overplay her hand, but nothing more. There wasn't anything they had that Kurenai couldn't rip to shreds in court.

Then there was the matter of Madara's mole, which Kakuzu said he was looking into right now. Hopefully he'd be able to find him fast so that the Kings could start to go a little more on the offensive. Apparently, Pakura was going to work her ass off to make sure she had the right guy, then she was gonna flambe the motherfucker. She'd have to do it in a way that made it look like an accident, but that wouldn't be too hard with a couple detectives help.

Of course there was also Sasuke, who was still trying to earn enough of Madara's trust to get the damn information he had on the kings away from him. Once they had the mole taken care of and got Madara's black mail info, they would be able to put an end to the madness. All of this and on top of it he had Utakata bitching to him about his prostitutes not going out to work because they were too afraid of getting killed or something. Naruto was a very busy man.

Naruto finished up his calls and threw the overused phone onto the counter. He sat down on his couch and rubbed his eyes, "This is way too much shit for one guy to deal with."

His ears perked up when he heard a key going into his front door, telling him that Fu was here. Fu was the only person other than himself that had a key to his place, so it had to be her. She walked inside wearing her usual white skirt and white dress shirt, enough of her buttons were left undone to make her look more enticing, "Hey Naruto, you look kinda tired today."

"You don't know the half of," Naruto told her, "I've had so much crap to straighten out these past few days, between the kings problems and Madara's attacks, it's been fuckign madening!"

Fu came over and sat down next to him, "So you've been pretty busy?"

Naruto had been more than a little busy, "It seems like I'm lucky if I get even an hour or two a day to relax. It's fucking frustrating.

Fu rubbed her boyfriend's shoulder sympathetically, "Poor guy. You need a day to just kick back and do something fun. Like a day to do whatever you want!"

Naruto felt a little like she was taunting him, "Well yeah, but I've got too much shit to do to just try and take a day off to do what I want. The other kings are breathing down my neck right now, expecting me to fix all of this shit for them."

Fu used her hands to force him to look her in the eyes, "Well you're not going to fix it overnight. Just take a day off. There's not really anything you can do right now anyways. Please Naruto, for me?"

Naruto really didn't think he could say no to that, but he tried at first, "I don't know Fu, it's just,"

Fu stop him by giving him a long, sensual kiss. That was something she knew would shut him right up. Eventually they were forced to break apart, "It's one day Naruto. They'll survive one day without you. Turn off your phone and just relax"

Kurama padded into the room, jumping on the couch and in between Naruto and Fu. He cuddled up happily to his masters, "Looks like he doesn't want you to go either. How can you say no to him?"

Naruto looked at them giving him the big eyes and sighed, "Alright, but just for one day."

Fu smiled and threw her arms around him, "That's all we ask."

* * *

Pakura had a very tough time deciding where to start with the investigation of Sasori and Hidan. Their financials ,ay have seemed like the most logical place for most people, but Pakura had a feeling that wouldn't turn up much. Sasori and Hidan both did other odd jobs beside working for Kakuzu, and so they both frequently had cash coming in and out of the bank, so there was no way she could figure out who the cash in their banks had come from without raising suspicion. So that wasn't an option for Pakura, what else did she have to go off from?

She decided the best move would be probably be to check their pasts. While Pakura had no idea what she'd find, something just might come up that would help her. The first person she asked about them was Kakuzu, and he was able to tell her a few things even though he was kind of busy.

Apparently, Sasori had once worked as a high up agent for a government, he never said which one. He had been used for everything from an assassin to an undercover operative. From what Kakuzu had been able to gather, Sasori decided he no longer wanted to be an agent and used all of the information he'd had on his superiors to quit without them coming after him. If they did, he'd let everyone know every little thing he'd done for his commanding officers. Now he just used his skills to make money and live a very comfortable life style. His skills in undercover work meant he'd easily be able to pull all of this off.

Then there was Hidan, who was a little bit more of a mystery. Not much was known about him, other than that he seemed to be impossibly good at avoiding death. The man had been shot, poisoned, stabbed, strangled, and pretty much every other thing you could think of, but he managed to survive every time. It didn't seem possible, but the man always found his way out. However, that was pretty much all Kakuzu had been able to tell her. She didn't know if Hidan had a reason to betray Kauzu or not.

Learning about those two didn't give Pakura a ton to work with, but if she had to guess she'd give a slight edge to it being Sasori. He didn't have a motive other than murder, but he had the background that seemed to fit for something like this. It wasn't much to go off from, but it was a place for Pakura to start. Her next step, delve a little deeper into world of Sasori.

* * *

Sasuke gave a long sigh as he once again walked into the empty house of his grandfather, his steps echoed through the vacant place. It was just depressing to go into here. The only person that he could possibly see was that senile old mad man who only wanted to use his skills for his own fucked up goal. For Sasuke, it had been maddening to come here day after day to do Madara's bidding, but it was for Naruto's sake, so he sucked it up.

When he got to his grandfather's room this time, the door was shut and he could hear two voices talking. He figured it would just be silly to knock, so he opened the door and went inside. Just like he figured, Orochimaru was the one with his grandfather, "Hey Orochimaru, what's up?"

Orochimaru smiled when he saw the black haired man walk in, "Well hello there Sasuke. I'm just giving Madara his check up and usual medications. Perhaps you can convince him that I'm not trying to, as he puts it, turn him into a pincushion."

Madara scowled at Orochimaru's sarcasm, "Well look at how many of those damn needles you've put into me. Why are you even giving me that shit anyways? It's not like I'm gonna live much longer as it is."

Sasuke would've loved it if Madara just killed over right now, but then the shit would hit damn fan, "Yeah, but you wanna live long enough to see this whole Nine Kings things come to fruition, don't you?"

Madara ground his teeth, "Fine, let's just get this shit over with already."

Orochimaru decided to strike up a conversation with Sasuke while he gave Madara the next injection, "So Sasuke, I heard something interesting about you yesterday."

"Really, what's that?" Sasuke asked, although he didn't really care. It was mostly just to keep from pissing his grandfather off.

Orochimaru was very eager to see Sasuke's reaction to what he was about to say, "I heard that you actually went to high school with the leader of the Nine Kings, Naruto Uzumaki. The same graduating class and everything."

Sasuke felt his blood run cold and Madara suddenly got very interested in the conversation, "Well this is news to me. Why didn't you inform me of this before Sasuke?"

Sasuke had to fight from cursing out Orochimaru right then and there. This could be a major issue, "I really didn't see any reason to. I mean, it was years ago and I haven't really talked to him since. Hell, I almost forgot we even went to high school together."

Orochimaru didn't know if Sasuke was lying or not, "You might not be friends now, but I heard you were rather chummy back in your younger days. What happened to you two?"

Madara seemed very interested as well, "Yes Sasuke, what happened? I'd really like to know."

Sasuke was on verge of chocking Orochimaru now, "We got out of high school, I went with the Uchihas and he went with the criminal world. All that happened is that we drifted apart."

Sasuke couldn't tell if Madara was buying it or not, but he finally said, "I suppose I could see why you'd drift apart, an Uchiha doesn't have any reason to spend time with him, but I still think that we could use this."

"Use this? In what way could we use this?" Sasuke asked, beginning to wonder what Orochimaru had set off.

Madara had a plan that would both test Sasuke's loyalty and help them get closer to taking out the kings, "It's quite simple really. You and Naruto were once very close friends. It could be beneficial if to have you befriend him once again. Say you suddenly decided you wanted to reconnect with an old friend, would that be so hard to believe?"

Sasuke wanted to think of reason that wouldn't work, but he didn't have a damn thing, "I guess that could work. I'm not sure what we'd get from that or how long that it would take, but I'm sure I could pull it off."

Madara seemed to be eyeing him very sceptically. You could tell this new information had him rather nervous, "Well good. That'll be what my task is for you today. You may leave."

Sasuke walked out as quickly as he could without it looking suspicious. How Orochimaru knew about his past with Naruto he didn't know, he probably just decided to look into Sasuke's past and discovered it, but it was really going to be a problem. This was gonna make it a lot harder for Madara to believe a word he said. If Sasuke had thought Orochimaru was an asshole before, he thought the man was a full on motherfucking, piece of shit, bastard, cocksucker!

As he was leaving, Orochimaru was asking Madara some important questions, "So you really didn't know about Naruto and Sasuke's friendship?"

Madara shook his head, "No, I didn't know. It's not something I'm very concerned with though. Like he said, it was just a high school friendship. I trust my grandson wouldn't let that get in the way of the Uchiha empire."

Orochimaru figured if Madara trusted him, so could he, "Yes, you're most likely right. It's probably nothing to get into a fuss over...for now."

* * *

As soon as Sasuke was out of Madara's house, he got Kakashi on the phone so that he could give him the bad news. He'd tried to call Naruto first, but apparently he'd turned his phone off because the call went straight to voicemail. Sasuke tried to explain everything to Kakashi clearly, but it was a rather complex situation. Now he had to watch his step around Madara even more. Considering that they were hoping to get that information fast, this wasn't good.

Kakashi listened to his story and just wanted to scream, "Can we please just kill Orochimaru? We could also beat the shit out of him until he has too much brain damage to function, I'm go with either one, as long as he pays for the shit he's putting me through.

Sasuke was thinking the same thing, "_If only. I know that my grandfather would take that as a red flag and then he'd make things even harder for us."_

Kakashi gave him a little joke, "Well we'd just kill him too. Simple as that."

Sasuke laughed a little bit, "_Once we get the information, we can do just that. I've gotta go home and check on Sakura. Hopefully you guys can figure out something that'll get us back on top."_

"Yeah, hopefully. Talk to you later Sasuke, good luck with your wife," Kakashi said right before he hung up. He leaned back in his chair and gave a little groan.

Rin walked by and could tell Kakashi was in a bit of a mood. She felt the need to ask him, "Hey Kakashi, is there something wrong? You look like you just ran over a puppy or something."

Strangely enough, Kakashi felt like he might be in a better mood if that were the case, "The problem is, Madara just found out about Naruto and Sasuke being friends in high school. He doesn't know about them being close now, thank god, but Sasuke still feels that his credibility has taken a hit. It could take longer to get Madara's information than we originally hoped."

Rin sat down across from him, "Luck really isn't on our side with this stuff, is it?"

"We've got plenty of luck, it's just not the right kind," Kakashi quipped. "Naruto's not answering his phone right now, he texted me earlier today and said that if anyone asked, he was taking the day off. Should we go to his house and tell him what happened or just let him be?"

Rin didn't see any reason to do that, "No, let him enjoy himself for a day. He's been so stressed lately and there's nothing for him to do right now anyways. A little relaxation will be good for him."

Kakashi was in agreement, "Well said. Sasuke said Madara wanted him to get close to Naruto. How do you think that we should go about doing that?"

Rin realized that was gonna be one of the harder things figure out. They would have to set up a fake relationship between Naruto and Sasuke, one where you'd never be able to tell they'd been friends for years. She quickly felt overwhelmed, "Why don't we go and see Jiraiya about that one? He's likely gonna have a lot better plan for this than we do."

Kakashi had been thinking the exact same thing, "Seems like that would be the least risky route to go down. I'll give him a call later. I've got some stuff I need to do for my actual cases or the higher ups are gonna get suspicious."

Rin was in the same boat, "Me too. What do you need, about two hours?"

Kakashi could work with that, "Two hours will probably be enough. Meet me out front once you're ready."

"Sounds good. Mind if I take one of those doughnuts?" Rin asked, pointing to the box of glazed doughnuts Kakashi desk.

Kakashi held the box up to her, "No, help yourself. I eat too damn many of these things as it is."

Rin thanked him and took one, then walked over to her desk. Kakashi couldn't help but watch as she left. He was so happy to have her back in his life, more than he ever thought that he would be. Maybe he should see if Rin still felt something between the two of them. Then again that could ruin everything if she felt insulted by it in some way. It was just best for Kakashi to wait right now.

* * *

Utakata was the type of man who liked to lay low in life. It was one of the majors reasons he'd joined the Nine Kings. He loved knowing that he was almost always safe and secure in his position, no grabs for power or something like that. Yet, now he found himself ducking his head and looking over his shoulder multiple times during the day. It was something that had Utakata more than a little pissed.

He was looking out his window right now, he lived on the top floor of a very extravagant condo, and was just watching the people walking by on the street. They looked so normal, so content with their boring everyday lives. It was mind boggling to Utakata, as he could never lead such a simple life. The kind needed his fancy things and high end style of living. Clearly other people felt there needed to be more to life too, or why would married men pay so much to sleep with a beautiful woman? These weren't cheating bastards in Utakata's eyes, they were just men who wanted to feel new pussy, that was all.

As Utakata just kept staring out that window, Mei came up behind him, "More contemplating boss man?"

"Contemplating and worrying," Utakata said with slight irritation in his voice, "Naruto isn't taking care of this issue fast enough for my liking. The moment the girls found out someone was gunning for the Kings, about half of them said they wouldn't work until they knew they it was safe again. They're afraid someone's gonna come after them to hurt my business."

Mei didn't blame them for that, "They're just being safe Utakata, nothing more. I can't blame them for not wanting to die."

Utakata didn't see it as kindly as she did, "They're a bunch of cowards. I mean honestly, just suck it up and go make some cash. Do they really think that I would let them go out there if I didn't feel they were safe?"

Mei got pretty pissed when he heard that, "Don't you dare talk about my girls that way! You're not the one going out there and risky your life to bring home the cash!'

Utakata wasn't swayed by her words, "I provide them with protection."

"No, you have a man go and kick the shit out of someone if they don't pay enough or try to hurt the girl. That does nothing protect while it's them going in, then they just have to fend for themselves. You get to sit in this condo all safe and sound well they're out there making you money," Mei snapped, about ready to smack the guy across the face.

Utakata raised up his hand like he was going to strike her, "If you say one more word, I'll!"

Mei cut him off, "You'll what? Hit me? Rape me? Kill me? Yeah right! We both now I could kill you with my bare hands! The only reason I don't take this job from is because I don't wanna deal with the headaches! Show my girls some respect, or I'll replace you with someone who will!"

No one talked like that to Utakata, even if what she said had some truth to it, "Why you little bitch! I'm one of the Nine Kings of Crimes, you would be slaughtered if you so much as touch me!"

Mei narrowed her eyes, "So what? I can still decided to just up and leave if I want to. Do you even want to think about trying to replace me?"

Utakata looked into her eyes with anger and lust as well, "My god you're sexy when you're angry."

Mei pushed him when he tried to get in close, "Fuck you! I told the first time you tried and I'll tell you it again, I'm never going to sleep with you, so fuck off!"

Utakata looked at Mei, completely enraged, "I could kill you and have you replace you in a heartbeat...but dammit, I could just never bring myself to do it. There's something about you woman."

Mei walked away but yelled back, "And you'll never find out what it is! Treat my girls with some respect, or we will go somewhere else, I can promise you that much!"

Utakata both loved and hated that woman. He was determined to see her in his bed one day, and he wouldn't stop trying until he did.

* * *

While Utakata was being shot down in flames, Kakashi and Rin were getting ready to go and see if Jiraiya could help them once again. Both of them finished up their work a little earlier than expected, which was good because it gave them a little extra time with him and they needed all the time they could get. Kakashi drove, both and Rin got nervous when other people drove, so they switched back and forth to satisfy one another. While Kakashi was usually a little more on the fast side, Rin liked to drive more cautiously. With Kakashi at the wheel, they got to Jiraiya's in a pretty short amount of time.

Rin went up to the door and knocked. Jiraiya yelled, "Whoever you are, I'm gonna need a second!"

Kakashi thought out loud, "He must have a food on the stove or something like that."

"Or a woman with him," Rin suggested.

Kakashi found that unlikely, "No, the only woman I could see him sleeping with these days is,"

He didn't finish his sentence because someone yelled on the other end of the door, "Relax Jiraiya, I got it."

Kakashi saw the door open and finished his sentence, "...Tsunade…"

Tsunade knew who both Kakashi and Rin were and she wasn't upset to see them, she actually found the them pleasant to talk with, "Hey guys, what are you doing here?"

Rin noticed that Tsunade's hair was messed up and her clothes seemed sloppily thrown on, "We're here to ask Jiraiya a couple questions. What about you? It looks like you spent the night here or something...and it's noon."

"I sort of spent the morning in bed," Tsunade said then said with a blush, "Well, to be more accurate, we spent the morning in bed."

Kakashi's jaw nearly dropped and ripped of his mask, "Wait, you and Jiraiya?"

Tsunade supposed that she could trust these two, "Yeah, me and Jiraiya. Don't tell anyone about this though, it's not sure thing yet," She peaked to see Jiraiya coming down the stairs and whispered to them again, "Although I'll admit, it's looking pretty good right now."

Jiraiya came up behind them and asked the same question Tsunade had, "Oh hey, Kakashi, Rin, what brings you two here?"

Kakashi got his serious face back on, "We got a bit of bad news. Your guy's old friend Orochimaru just seems to have found the perfect way to fuck us over once again."

Jiraiya step aside so that they could come in, "Well, I guess you'd better come inside then. I'm get a hell of a lot of visitors these days."

Kakashi and Rin walked inside and Rin commented, "This must feel like the old days for you. You know, everyone wanting your help with a case."

Jiraiya thought it was kind of funny, as that did seem true, "I'm not gonna lie, it feels pretty good to be needed again. You don't have to stick around if you don't want to Tsunade, I know this might seem boring to you."

"One night and you're already trying to get rid of me? Wow Jiraiya, didn't know you were such a dog," Tsunade joked with a giggle, "I'm more than happy to stick around for a bit Jiraiya. I don't have anything to do for an hour or so, I'll hang out with you guys for awhile."

Jiraiya was of course pleased that she was staying, "Great, it'll be nice to have another person to bounce ideas off from."

They all walked into the living room and sat down. Kakashi gave him the full story on what Orochimaru had apparently told Madara. Everyone could see Jiraiya was thinking hard as he listened the issue being presented to him. Once Kakashi had finished, Jiraiya said, "Alright, I've got three questions I need to ask you."

"Okay, then ask them," Rin urged him.

Jiraiya went to his first one, "Just how dangerous does Sasuke think Madara could get if he's left to his own devices much longer?"

Kakashi gave him the honest answer, "Sasuke says that his grandfather doesn't have all that much longer, and that the closer he gets to death the more aggressive he becomes."

"I see," Jiraiya mused, "And how long does he think it will take him to get Madara to trust him enough to give him the information?"

Rin had been thinking of that one herself, "Based on what Sasuke's told Kakashi, I'd say at least a couple of weeks. Madara is very protective of the blackmail info since it's almost all he has left."

Jiraiya kept thinking and moved on to his last question, "Do you think that there's any chance that Madara will kill Naruto if given the chance?"

Kakashi didn't even need to think about it, "I think he'd do it in a heartbeat. Actually, I think he wants to kill Naruto and all of the kings once he's got full control."

"So a situation that seemed like it couldn't any worse actually has," Jiraiya summed up, "I'm of course gonna come up with a plan, but something like this will take some time. I don't I've ever seen a situation this complicated before, so I need to make sure I've got this completely thought out."

Rin was glad he was taking this so seriously, "Take every last second that you need. For Naruto's sake, this plan has to be perfect."

Jiraiya was still thinking, but asked, "Run me through everything Madara's done so far. I wanna get a little better idea of how Madara thinks so that I can better plan our next move."

Kakashi and Rin started to recall all of this as Jiraiya leaned back and kept thinking over their next move. They were one hell of a chess match with Madara right now. You couldn't just think one move ahead, you have to had to think three moves ahead. Jiraiya's plan had slowly started to form in his head, but it was far from finished, or conventional for that matter. This fight just kept getting more and more interesting.

* * *

While Jiraiya was thinking up some kind of way to protect him, Naruto was enjoying his day off. It wasn't long before he was totally grateful to Fu for convincing him to do this. He had been so damn stressed, and just taking one day to ignore it all made him feel like a weight had been lifted off his shoulder.

The first thing Fu did was make some lunch for them, a bowl of ramen she'd learned to make by hanging out at Naruto's restaurant. Naruto practically licked his bowl clean, showing Fu that he really enjoyed it. Then they relaxed a bit in the bedroom, Fu took the reins a little more this time and really gave Naruto a good time. Once they'd gotten cleaned up from that, they took Kurama out for a nice walk. The little fox needed to stretch his legs twice a day, not including when went to the bathroom, and spent most of his time chasing other small animals. He might have been smarter than the average fox, but Kurama was still an animal and his instincts were still intact. After that, they went back to the apartment and Fu gave Naruto a back massage. Being the gentleman that he was, Naruto returned the favor afterwards.

Now the two of them were sitting on the couch, relaxing, and Kurama was taking a nap in the bedroom. Naruto felt calmer than he had in a long time, "Oh man, I really needed a day like that."

Fu cuddled into his chest, "Yes you did. You can't stress yourself out like that all the time Naruto. You'll kill yourself or something."

"When someone's pulling the kind of shit that Madara is, it's not exactly easy to take time off," Naruto noted, not sure if Fu was understanding his current situation.

Fu, however, did understand, "I know you're just trying to protect your friends, but you think better with a clear head. I'll be willing to bet that you'd have an easier time coming up with plans now that you've took some time off."

Naruto figured he'd test her theory, so he started to think about the issues he'd been pondering before all of this relaxing started. Just like Fu had predicted, his head felt a little better and one of his problems suddenly had a very clear answer, "Son of a bitch, I can't believe I didn't think of that before."

Fu was a little startled and asked, "Think of what?"

Naruto elaborated, "Utakata's been bitching about his girls feeling unsafe and that none of them wanted to go out and make him his pay. There's a really simple solution to that."

Fu was immediately interested, "What've you got?"

Naruto felt it was so simple that it was perfect, "Han's sitting on his ass doing nothing thanks to all of this. What if we had his men go and escort the girls to their destinations until a time where they felt it was safe? It wouldn't cost Utakata anything and at least this way Han's men have got something to keep them occupied. He could give Han a little cash as a reward, which Han could give to his men to keep them satisfied. It would still be making Utakata money in the long run since he'd have more of his girls out there."

Fu did her best to keep up with what he was thinking and eventually she got what he was saying, "Damn, that's kind of genius Naruto. It's so simple, but so perfect at the same time. Guess this means that your day off is over now, huh?"

Naruto finally took his phone out of and started to turn it back on, "Yeah, it is. It was fun while it lasted."

Fu had a kind of sad, yet happy smile on her face, "It really was. I think I'd better head back home for awhile if that's the case. I've got a couple of things I need to run over and get done. Good luck with the pissed off kings."

Naruto saw that he had 28 messages on his phone, "I can see the texts now. 'What the hell are you doing?' 'Why do we bother giving you some of our earnings?' 'You really think this the the time to be taking a day off?' and all that other shit."

Fu told him sternly, "You can tell them to fuck themselves if they say something like that! If there's anyone else in the world who could do what you do and not get shot or something like that? Hell no there isn't! You've earned the money they gave you. So what if you wanna take one day off?"

Naruto looked at the messages and most of them were just what he'd been expecting, although not as bad as he'd thought they'd be. Gaara actually even made his more of a joke. However, a select few of them did catch his eye. Ones about Madara discovering something very interesting about him, "Looks like you were right about it being a good time for you to leave, because I just found something that should keep me busy for a while."

"I don't even wanna know," Fu said as she got off the couch and grabbed her things, "Whatever you need to do, I know that you'll find the best way to do it. See you later babe."

Naruto got up and gave her a quick kiss, "You have too much faith in me sometimes. Thanks for today."

"Believe me, it was my pleasure," Fu responded, happily returning the kiss.

She turned away to leave, but something scratching gently on her leg. Kurama was looking up at her with big sad eyes, "Aw, do you not want me to go little guy?"

Fu leaned down and gave him a little kiss on his furry head, "Sorry, but I really do have to leave. I'll be back as soon as can, I promise," She finished in a cute little voice.

She left and Kurama padded over to Naruto, a little pouted seemed to be on his face. Naruto picked him up said, "I know, I hate when she has to leave too. Don't worry though, she'll be back. She alway comes back. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got some major things I need to clear up. I'm gonna call Han and Utakata then head over to see Jiraiya. Hopefully he's got something good for me."

* * *

Jiraiya had spent about an hour and a half trying to play out every single variable in his head. This was move was easily the riskiest move he was ever going to have to make, so many lives could be in the balance. Kakashi and Rin were talking on couch, waiting for Jiraiya to give his response.

Rin was talking about the old days, reminiscing about when Obito was still working with them, "Do you remember that time you pulled the all nighter, and he had like fifteen cups of coffee?"

Kakashi threw his head back laughing, "Do I remember? You can still see the the place he burned me on my hand when he tried to make another pot!"

"Oh man, it's been way too long since we've all gotten together," Rin said, wiping tear from her eye that'd see gotten due to how hard she'd been laughing, "Do you think...do you think that maybe he'd be willing to talk to us yet?"

Kakashi looked at the ground, "I don't know, he was really torn up about getting kicked of the force. Maybe we could go and see him about helping us with all this?"

Rin had a hopeful look in her eyes, "Maybe...It's so weird thinking about those days. Everything was so different back then. Obito was hitting on me, I was always was asking you out, you kept shooting me down."

Kakashi did find it crazy to think about that, "Lord knows I wouldn't shoot you down now."

Rin's mind came to a halt when she heard that, "Really? You'd actually be willing to take someone on a date?"

Kakashi was smiling a little under his mask, "I don't know about just someone, but for you I would be."

Rin thought about what to say next, and decided to go for it, "Well then how about you come over to my place for dinner tomorrow night? Say eightish?"

Kakashi tried to play it cool, but he felt like he was exploding inside, "Yeah, that sounds great. I'll make sure to stop by."

A new voice came from the entryway, a voice belonging to Naruto Uzumaki, "Hello? I kept knocking for like five minutes, but nobody answered, so I'm just coming in."

Jiraiya finally spoke, "We're in the living room Naruto, and you'd better come and have a seat. I've got the basics of my plan worked out, but there's still some things I'm having a hard time to working out."

Naruto came in the living room and sat down next to Jiraiya, "Hey Jiraiya, good to see you. So what all have you got so far?"

Jiraiya rubbed his chin in thought, "Well, there's only one thing that I've decided for sure, and that's that simply making Madara think you and Sasuke are all buddy buddy won't be enough to earn his trust."

Naruto was hoping for better news, "What makes you think that?"

Jiraiya didn't think it, he knew it, "It occurred to me the Madara might not have ever even intended to tell Sasuke where the information is. I mean, it's not like he has to know about it to take over the Kings organization. Why would Madara take the risk without even the slightest reason to? He'd have to be sure he could trust Sasuke first."

Naruto wanted to think of a reason that wasn't true, but he couldn't, "Dammit...you've actually got a point there. What the hell are we gonna do? That information is the only thing keeping us from killing Madara. If we could just get our hands on it this would be all over."

Jiraiya was more than in agreement, "Of course, that would be what ended this. I've ran this through my head more times than I can count, but there's only one scenario where I can actually see Madara having a reason to give Sasuke the information."

Naruto was afraid to ask, "If you've tried that many plans, that one you've got can't be good. What did you come up with?"

"It's the one thing the Sasuke could ever do that could completely convince Madara he's able to trust him," Jiraiya started, "But it's just so risky...I need more information before I even suggest it."

Naruto wanted to hear more, "Oh come on, it's better than just sitting around nothing right?"

Rin didn't think he should rush things, "Naruto, Jiraiya's the best strategist I've ever seen. If he says he needs time to make sure everything's safe, then he means it. Just let him do his job, okay."

"She's got a point Naruto," Said Kakashi, "Jiraiya just want's to make sure you live through all this shit. This man will keep you safe, trust me on that."

Naruto was hit with a twinge of guilt. He looked at Jiraiya and said, "Sorry if I insulted you, I'm just really fucking frustrated right now."

Jiraiya didn't feel insulted in the least, "Don't worry Naruto, I know all about feeling like you have no control over a situation. It shouldn't take me too long to decided whether or not the plan is safe."

Naruto calmed down a little bit and looked around at who all was there, "Hey, how about we all go do something fun? We've all got some time and it's rare that we each of us get hang out together."

They all didn't see why not, so Rin asked, "What did you have in mind?"

Naruto gave a mischievous smirk, "There's a boxing match not to far from here. How about we go make some bets and see how it goes?"

Jiraiya thought that actually sounded pretty good, "Sounds like fun...legal bets, right?"

Naruto rolled his eyes, "Yes, legal bets. Grab your keys and let's go already!"

All of them stood up and left for the match. This was gonna be great!


	9. Looking at the Odds

Hello my awesome readers, and welcome to chapter nine, fittingly enough, of Nine Crimes, Nine Kings. As we edge closer to the end of the first season, which some of you may have guessed isn't too far away, I've decided to make the first season 13 chapters long, much like the typical season of a TV drama. As anyone who can do basic math will tell you, that means we have this chapter and then four more. Also, I'm intentionally not telling you what Jiraiya's plan is to build up suspense, so you won't find out what it is till next chapter. That's pretty much all I've got for this intro. My apologizes about posting later than usual, there was a power outage in my area. Hope you enjoy the chapter!

* * *

The air in the stadium was electric, people cheering everywhere. Naruto, Jiraiya, Kakashi, and Rin were cheering along with them. Rock Lee, a boxer with near inhuman speed, was pounding the crap out of his opponent, Dosu. Dosu was supposed to have the best left hook in the business, but it was useless when when couldn't even touch the guy he was fighting.

Rock Lee was good friends with Guy, who'd had a very promising boxing career before a car crash that did permanent damage to his leg ended it. He became a police officer after that, but Guy was given a second chance at his dream when he met Lee, a young man with a dream of becoming a professional boxer, at his gym. Lee had the perfect body to use Guy's hard fist style of fighting, which is what had made him so dangerous as a boxer. Once Guy taught it to him, Lee became unstoppable. Now he on the way to the top, and Naruto had put all of his money down on him because of it.

All of Naruto's friends had bet on Lee, so they were glad to see him kicking the shit out of the Dosu. Rin was screaming, totally getting into it, "Oh come on, this guy's a pussy! Let's go Lee, you can hit him harder than that!"

Jiraiya couldn't believe how much he was getting into it either, "Look at him Lee! The guy's almost finished! Don't let up!"

"Finish the motherfucker! He's practically out already!" Kakashi yelled, both loving the fight and wanting his money.

Naruto was just smirking, not so much yelling. He knew that Lee would win, as he always did. They'd broken his nose, his ribs, and even his jaw once, but Lee just kept coming at them. He was a fucking freight train. There was no way he was gonna lose.

Lee ducked under a hook from Dosu, and then went in for one more relentless assault. He hit him with jab after jab, blood began to spill from Dosu's mouth. With one last hard jab, Dosu fell to the ground and ref started to count. The cheers got louder than ever as the ref got to ten, signifying Lee had won. The young man, who almost looked just like Guy but with a slightly thinner build, raised his hands up with pride at getting another win under his belt.

They all slowly got up and started to leave as the crowd called down a bit. Naruto looked at them and asked, "So who all won and how much did ya get?"

Rin was doing the math in her head, "Well, Lee had the better odds, so it wasn't a huge amount. I put down a hundred dollars, so I think I won like 40 or 50 bucks. "

Kakashi was able to figure his out based off from Rin's, "Well in that case, I won like like 90 or a 100 bucks. I put down 200 dollars."

Jiraiya was grinning in pride, "I won the most out of all you guys. I bet 350 bucks, so I must have got like 175 dollars!"

Naruto was damn impressed, "Wow, go Jiraiya. Good thing Tsunade wasn't here, she would've bet on Dosu just because she would've made more money if he'd won."

Jiraiya knew that was true, "That would be why she hasn't gambled in five years. She would've gone broke if she'd kept going. Don't tell her we went here by the way, it's probably not a good idea."

All of them agreed and Naruto looked a little startled for a second, nearly jumping five feet in the air. They all looked at him funny and he said, "Sorry, my phone just went off. I had it on vibrate so it scared the crap out of me."

"Only you Naruto," Kakashi said, finding it kind of funny, "Answer the text, we can wait for a second."

Naruto looked at the phone and started to smirk little, "Utakata and Han liked my new plan. Good, that'll make things a little easier for now."

They were all told this plan on the way in, mainly just as something to talk about, and Rin had been thinking about something, "You know it only seems logical that Roshi, Fu, Gaara, or Utakata is gonna be the next person to get hit. All the other kings have been hit already, so it's gotta be one of them. You really ought to be finding a way to protect the three kinds you haven't yet. Well, let's be honest here, you'll protect Fu's business. I was more thinking about Roshi and Gaara."

Kakashi had been thinking about that too, "That's actually been on my mind as well. Yagura and Yugito don't wanna do too much right now because Madara's been screwing with them, so why not do with them what you did with Han? Yugito could use her resources to keep an eye on Roshi's bribes and Yagura's men could probably find some way to help Gaara."

Naruto didn't know about that, "I'll take into consideration. Gaara can most likely take care of himself, but Roshi might need a little help. He's never thought that he needed much protection, other than Kurotsuchi, since he wasn't in any of the bloodier types of crime."

Jiraiya paused for a second, "He's gonna be next then, most likely. He's the next easiest person to hit, he'd want to save the others for a really big move."

Naruto trusted him, but had to ask, "How would you attack someone who handles bribery? Do you think he'll be set up with cops like Yugito was?"

Jiraiya saw that as far too predictable, "No, he's already played that card and Kurenai is protecting Yugito easily enough. He'll want to try something different. Something a little more physical, that's what Madara's gonna use."

Naruto was really glad to have Jiraiya here with him, "Well in that case I'd better go and warn Roshi," he said as he started to pull out his phone, but something suddenly stopped him, "You said he'd want to save the others for a big move. What did you mean by that?"

"Come on Naruto, you must have know the Madara figured out that you and Gaara are good friends, and he's gotta know that you're sleeping with Fu," Jiraiya said honestly, "They're who he'll go after when he really wanted to get to you."

Naruto got a look of realization on his face, "Son of a bitch, you're right. Once I've call Roshi, you need to go and get check everything out for this plan of yours so that Sasuke can get his information. If my closest friends are really in that much danger, then I need to kill Madara before he can get anywhere near them."

Jiraiya was happy to oblige, "Sure, but you've gotta set up a meeting for me and Sasuke. I'm gonna need to have a nice long chat with the man before I give this plan any consideration."

Naruto was already dialing on his phone, "Done. Kakashi and Rin, I don't need you guys for today. Do whatever you want, go and enjoy yourself I guess."

Kakashi could use a day to get some of the stuff done at precinct, "Alright then, guess I'll get as much done as possible today. Feel like stopping on the way for donuts Rin?"

Rin gave Kakashi a funny look, "Donuts again Kakashi? You had a box on your desk yesterday. How often do you get those things?"

Kakashi just kind of shrugged, "I get a box every two or three days. What can I say, I like doughnuts."

"Kakashi, that's like 5 doughnuts a day!" Rin said with shock in her voice, "You should way like 500 pounds right now!"

Kakashi patted his stomach, "Doesn't seem to be an issue for me. I eat pretty unhealthy, but I can't ever seem to gain any weight. That means I'm fine, right?"

Rin smacked her forehead in frustration, "Skinny doesn't mean healthy, do you ever go and see the doctor?"

"Nope," Kakashi said haphazardly, "I'm feeling just fine. I'm the picture of health."

Rin didn't buy it, "Yeah well, we'll see about when you come to my place tomorrow."

Kakashi was gonna respond, but Naruto suddenly said, "Well that's not good."

Rin turned and asked, "What?"

Naruto was looking at his phone, "It's Roshi, he didn't answer when I call. He never misses a call, at least not from me. We might be a little too late. I've really gotta go, Kakashi, can you set up the meeting for Jiraiya and Sasuke real quick? Something tells me I'm not gonna have the time to."

Kakashi was happy to, "Of course, you go and check in on Roshi."

Naruto dialed another number on the phone and started to call for backup, "Hey Kiba, I need you and Ino's help with something. Meet me at Roshi's place as quickly as you can, and bring your most dangerous stuff. This could get bloody."

* * *

There was a war going on, but it seemed several people were finding the time to start a relationship. One of the happiest people finding a little love, by far, was Gaara. He and Hinata had been on three dates so far, they'd gotten together every chance they got. Hinata was surprised with how affectionate she'd become towards Gaara. She'd realized that she'd been worshiping Naruto, and that wasn't healthy, but Gaara had been good for her. It had been same for Gaara, Hinata being able to get out off his shell a little more. The two of them fit very well together, in a strange kind of way.

Gaara was going to Hinata's apartment, at her request, and was very excited to see her again. Their third date had gone excellently, but Hinata seemed a little surprised when Gaara left that night. It was like she'd expected him to stay longer or something.

He got to the apartment and knocked on the door, Hinata quickly letting him in, "Gaara, I'm so glad you could make it. Please, come in."

Gaara gave a little smile and walked into Hinata's apartment, lots of lavender colored things inside as that was her favorite color, "I'm glad I could make it as well. I had a wonderful time last night."

Hinata looked a tiny bit relieved, "Oh good, I was afraid something had gone wrong."

Gaara didn't understand, "Not in the least. What on earth made you think that?"

"Well, it was our third date. Most people say that on the third date, you're supposed to," Hinata blushed a little bit, "Well, you know."

Gaara didn't know, "No, what?"

Hinata said in a small voice, "Make love...have sex...whatever you wanna call it."

Gaara was suddenly the one blushing, "Really, the social protocol is just three dates?"

Hinata felt a little embarrassed, "If you don't want to,"

Gaara quickly told her, "No, no, it's not that at all! I'd love to...do that with you. I guess I'm just a little nervous is all."

Hinata slowly walked up to him, "You've done it before, right?"

Gaara blushed again, "Yes, but not with someone I like as much as you. Maybe we should get a nice hotel room or,"

HInata pressed her lips to his, quieting him down, "There's no need to overthink this Gaara. Just let it happen, here and now."

"Okay," Gaara said as he started to lean back in, "We'll let this happen."

The two of them started to kiss again, things slowly heating up. Just before Hinata could slide her tongue into Gaara's mouth, there was a knock at the door, "Ugh, talk about bad timing."

She went over to open the door, hoping it was someone she could send away quickly. No such luck, as she found Neji was their in his suit and long brown hair, "Hello Hinata, there's some things the two of use must discus for the meeting we've got coming up in a couple of weeks. I won't have you embarrassing our company's name."

Hinata gave him her best death glare, which Neji was not used to seeing from the mousy girl, "As much as I'd love to have talk down to me for an hour, I've got company right now Neji. We'll have to do it later."

Neji eyed up Gaara and recognized him from when the two of them had been in high school, "Do you know who this is?"

Hinata rolled her eyes, "Oh course I know who he is, he's my boyfriend."

Gaara felt a little pride and being officially declared her boyfriend, so he said to Neji, "Yes I am, and I'm not going to let you talk to Hinata like that."

Neji let himself inside and went up to Gaara, "You're boyfriend? Hinata, this man's a murderer! He killed a man before he even learned to drive a car and I have it on good authority that he's been investigated for other crimes as well."

"The murder was self defense and the investigations turned up absolutely nothing!" Hinata yelled, defending Gaara.

Neji wouldn't stand for this, "This is unacceptable! Your father is gonna hear about this! Honestly, you're such a fool."

Neji turned around and left the place in an angry huff. Hinata realized what all she'd done, "Oh dear, I know this is gonna lead to trouble. I just know that my father is gonna end up looking into this and he could very well find things that he shouldn't."

Gaara rubbed her shoulders a little, "It's okay sweetie, I can be charming if I need to be."

Hinata didn't know if he would be able to smooth talk her father, "Look, ever since we surpassed the National Sharingan Defense, the Hyuuga's have been more stuck up than ever. They'll do anything to make sure they stay on top."

Gaara heard that and something hit him, "In that case, I really should have a word with him. If I told him just enough to let him know that Madara was almost about to get his company going again and that I was trying to stop him, I think not only would he not object to me dating you, he'd probably offer to help me as well."

Hinata realized how genius that was, "Gaara, that's brilliant!"

She threw her arms around him and pulled him into a deep kiss, leading him to the bedroom. Hinata was going to show him just how grateful she was.

* * *

Naruto, Kiba, and Ino all stood outside Roshi's apartment, heavily armed. Naruto had couple of revolvers on his hip and was holding a magnum in his hand, Kiba had a shotgun, and Ino had a couple of small pistols. They could blow the tits off from just about anybody with all of this. Roshi lived in a small house that was on the outskirts of Konoha, with no neighbors or people for what seemed like miles. That wasn't good for them, as it meant there was no one around for Madara's men to be nervous about alerting.

Kiba looked at the quiet house and asked, "Are you sure he's actually in danger? I mean, all he did was miss a call."

Naruto was very sure, "If he had called me back, then maybe I could buy that. However, it's been over 25 minutes, he would've called me back by now. Plus, I know all of his cars and that blue one over there is not one of them. Trust me, something's wrong."

Ino was still skeptical, "Do you really think he'd still be alive after 25 minutes or more of being shot at?"

Naruto knew a little better, "Roshi's not an idiot, he at least has some protection. He's got a got a safe room in there he built for situations just like this, it's a steel freaking door. It would take them a hell of a lot longer than 25 minutes to bust in."

"He didn't think to put a phone in there?" Kiba asked with an arched eyebrow.

Naruto knew that he did, "The house is completely dark. I'm gonna bet they cut off the power to his house. He must not have had time to grab his cell phone."

Ino was impressed with Naruto's deductions, "I guess you're right. Let's lock and load people, we've got some motherfuckers to shoot up."

Kiba licked at his wife and licked his lips, "God I love you woman."

Naruto needed to get these guys in the house before they decided to fuck on the front lawn, "Okay, let's get this show on the road people. We've gotta save Roshi before they start to put bullet holes in him."

The two lovers looked at Naruto and nodded. They started to move into the house as quietly as possible, being sure not to alert anyone. They all had at least one of their weapons drawn. Once they were inside, they all started to look around, covering themselves from every angle. Naruto started to walk towards where he knew one of the safe rooms were and saw five men from the corner of his eye.

They all dove behind a wall before the men could see them. Naruto whispered to the two of them, "They've got three men with guns pointed at the door and two with guns pointed away from them. If wait for them to be caught a little off guard, we can just take them down pretty easily. On my mark, turn around and blow them away."

Kiba and Ino nodded, getting their weapons ready. Naruto peaked around the corner, making sure Sasuke wasn't one of the men there. Once he was sure and the men weren't paying quite enough attention, he motioned for all of them to open fire.

They all turned the corner and started to fire. Naruto got one of them right in the head with his magnum, almost blowing it completely off. Kiba fired the shotgun at them, not killing them, but definitely knocking them down. He fired off a second shot, this time killing both of them. Ino was hitting one of them with multiple bullets in his chest, talking him out pretty easily. The final gunman was trying to get his weapon, but Naruto didn't let him and put two large holes in his chest with his magnum.

With all of their enemies bleeding out on the floor, Naruto and the others felt it was safe to go and knock on the steel door, "Hey Roshi, are you in there? The guy's out here are dead, so you're safe."

There was the sound of some latches turning and Roshi poked his head out, "There were five of them, did you get them all?"

Naruto counted up the dead bodies to be sure, "Yeah, they're all dead. Come on out already."

Finally, Roshi started to walk out, holding his leg as he did so. It looked like the men had gotten shot off on him before he was able to escape to his hideout, "Those motherfuckers got me good. A man, this hurts like hell!"

Ino leaned down and took a look at his ankle, "Hm, that is pretty bad, the bullet is still in there. Kiba, I don't think that you can fix him up here," Kiba had fixed up simple wounds before, since he knew a little about human medical stuff too, "You're gonna need an actual hospital to get the bullet out."

Kiba agreed, "I'm not even gonna try with something like that."

Naruto knew better than to take him to a usual hospital, "Looks like I'm gonna have to go get Tsunade to take care of him. After you help me wrap a towel around his leg and get him into my car, you're free to go."

Kiba got on the other side of Roshi, "Sure thing, that shouldn't take too long."

Roshi looked over at Naruto and mumbled, a little embarrassed, "Hey Naruto...thanks…"

Naruto looked over at Roshi and gave him his foxy grin, "Don't mention it."

* * *

One faction of the King's team may have been fighting the war with violence, but another was busy trying to fight it with just her brain. Pakura had dug up just about every little piece of information she could find on Sasori, with the help of very many of Kakuzu's friends, and found some very interesting things. She was sitting outside Kakuzu's office right now, getting all of her files straight to show him what she'd found. The results, while surprising, gave her a very clear picture of what was going on. All that she was really hoping is that her boss would believe it all.

Finally, when she had all of her files and evidence in the perfect order, she stood up and knocked on Kakuzu's office door. She could hear him walking to the door and he looked rather stressed when he opened it, "Pakura, it's just you. Did have some more questions, or did you get some results?"

Pakura held up her files, "I've got some stuff that you've just gotta see. What I've found changes everything."

Kakuzu swung the door wide open, "Why didn't you just open with that? Come on in!"

"Um, sir, I did open with that," Pakura said as she nervously walked in.

Kakuzu realized she was right but ignored it, "Whatever, just sit down and show me what you've got."

Pakura sat down and laid out a pile of files in front of Kakuzu, "Using all of the different resources you gave me, thank you for that by the way, I found out something interesting about Sasori."

Kakuzu was eager to find it out "What? Does he have some kind of history that gives him a reason to betray me?"

Pakura opened the first file and showed it to him, "No, I wasn't able to find anything like that. However, take a look at his."

Kakuzu looked over the file and blinked a couple of time, "Okay, he left his old government job because he didn't wanna deal with politics of the job anymore. So what?"

"So, if he hated dealing with politics so much, backstabbing seems unlikely. He would be unlikely to go through all the trouble it would cause him." Pakura reasoned

Kakuzu didn't seem convinced, "I'm hoping you've got a lot stronger evidence than that if you plan to rule Sasori out."

Pakura got another paper out of her files, "Oh, there's more alright. Check this out."

Kakuzu saw it was a bank statement, "I thought you weren't looking into these?"

Pakura shrugged, "Not intensely, but I figured why not take a peak. If you look at Sasori's recent activity, you'll notice something interesting."

Kakuzu read them over and started to raise an eyebrow, "This is only showing that he's putting the amount of money he's making from me."

Pakura had gotten quite a lot from that information, "When I saw that, I knew something wasn't quite right. I asked Sasori what he'd been doing lately, nonchalantly of course, and apparently he hasn't been doing much. Of course I asked him why, and he said that he's been taking in more money than he can launder, so he had to slow down for a while. After checking all of this out, I found everything that he told me was true."

Kakuzu was becoming more convinced, "So this is the worst time for Sasori to be taking in even more cash. Does this mean you think our culprit is Hidan?"

Pakura got another fill out and threw it on the desk, "After finding out all this, I'm sure he is. When I found out all that stuff about Sasori, I decided to shift my focus from him to Hidan. I noticed he seemed obsessed with these strange looking books, so I decided to try and figure out what they were."

Kakuzu found what she was talking about in the file, "He's part of a fucking cult?

Pakura found the whole thing pretty creepy, "He's not just part of a cult, he's the head of Konoha's Jashinist. The whole thing focuses on death, they're not afraid of it, they worship it. These guys cut themselves, kill others, and even eat human meat."

All this time Kakuzu thought he had the most fucked up way to kill a guy in Konoha, "Okay, so what does this mean for us? Does this mean that he did it?"

Pakura sat some medical records in front of Kakuzu, "Sort of, yes. Like I said, these guys eat people and that 's one of the most important parts of their rituals. However, they don't have an easy time getting organs to eat. On a hunch, I decided to see if any organs went missing in Orochimaru's hospital. No organs that were officially taken went missing, but I was able to find a couple of family who had complained that their loved one had unexplained cuts on them. These cuts were right where things like the liver and kidneys are stored."

Kakuzu didn't need her to explain anymore than that, "That son of a bitch sold me out so that he had organs to feed his psycho followers! Oh, that motherfucker doesn't know what's coming for him!"

"I can still burn him up, right?" Pakura asked, hoping she would still get to make Hidan all crispy.

Kakuzu shot her an evil grin "Fine by me, just make sure that it's extra painful!"

Pakura got all giddy like a little kid, "Oh, this is gonna be fun! I'll fry him tonight...if that's okay with you I mean."

Kakuzu was surprised Pakura even needed to ask, "The sooner the better. You may leave to start preparing if you wish. Excellent work Pakura"

Practically jumped out of her chair and started to leave, "Thanks, I'll call you when he's dead."

Kakuzu just to chuckle as Pakura practically sprinted out of the room. He was starting to see what Zabuza meant about her love for burning things being cute in a way...in a disturbing sort of sense.

* * *

There had been some strange places Sasuke had been asked to meet people before. Junkyards, burn down buildings, and even a sex shop had been some of the highlights. However, this was the first time he'd ever been asked to meet someone at a shooting range.

Sasuke got out of his car at the Gamautsu shooting range, he was holding some kind of briefcase, and he saw that Jiraiya was already there, waiting by his car, "Hey Jiraiya, long time no see. You know I almost thought Kakashi was fucking with me when he told me what you wanted me to do."

Jiraiya walked over and shook his hand, "Glad you could make it Sasuke. Did you bring your rifle like I asked?"

Sasuke held up the briefcase, "It's right in here. Did you suddenly have an urge to go out shooting with me?"

"I won't be the one doing the shooting," Jiraiya told him as they walked in, "That's just gonna be you. I wanna see how good of a shot you are."

Sasuke watched Jiraiya give the man behind the counter a quick wave and walked right out to the outdoor range. He must have set everything up beforehand, "Okay, but why?"

Jiraiya showed him all of the targets he'd set up as he said, "I just wanna check before I tell Naruto about a plan I've got. They're paper targets set up at the 500, 750, and 1000 yard marks. I want you to fire at each one three times. Think you can handle that?"

Sasuke already had his rifle out of his case and was assembling it, "That's child's play for me."

Jiraiya honestly hoped that was true, "Good, then open fire on these damn things. See if you can hit the bullseye too."

Sasuke set his rifle down on the ground and started to look down the sight, "Like I said, child's play. We just gently squeeze the trigger and…"

Jiraiya put his fingers in his ears as the bullets started to fly. It was hard to tell from where he was standing, but it looked like Sasuke was hitting the targets. Once he counted of nine shots, Jiraiya pressed the button to bring the targets back in. They were all hung on wires so they could be more easily retrieved.

Jiraiya took them all down and saw that all of the shots had hit dead center, "Holy shit man, you didn't miss any of them."

Sasuke shrugged and started to take apart his rifle, "My grandpa's been taking me out shooting since I was 8 years old. You should see some of trick shots I pulled for for tournaments and stuff like that."

Jiraiya didn't need any tricks shots for his plan, "Based on this, I think that I've got a plan that could help us end the whole mess we're in right now. Still, even with these, it still seems nuts to even attempt it…"

Sasuke just had to ask, "Jiraiya, what's the big deal with this plan of yours? You keep talking about it like it's the most dangerous thing ever."

"The big deal is, in this plan you're going to be making a shot that if you're off be even one centimeter, you'll end up killing Naruto," Jiraiya said very somberly.

That shut Sasuke right up. He had no idea what to say to that, "...What in the hell are you gonna ask me to do?"

Jiraiya started to walk to the door, "Why don't we wait until we see Naruto to tell you that? I don't wanna explain myself half a dozen times."

Sasuke could respect that, it would get very tiring after awhile, "Well then let's get going, I don't want to wait too long on this. Your place or Naruto's?"

"Naruto's," Jiraiya answered easily, "This is gonna be decision that he needs to make at home, trust me."

* * *

Tsunade had been a little pissed to be woken up in the middle of the night, but she Naruto wouldn't do it if he didn't have to. When he'd gotten their with his buddy, Tsunade saw why it was so urgent. The bullet had gotten thoroughly lodged in Roshi's leg, having been stopped by a nice chunk of bone. It had taken a fair bit of finesse, but Tsunade was able to get the bullet out with minimal muscle damage.

Once she was done, she went out to greet the waiting Naruto. She opened the door and wiped the sweat from her brow with a towel, "Aw man that thing was really in there good."

"Is he okay?" Naruto asked urgently.

Tsunade set down in a chair and took and deep breath, "He's just fine, although he won't be walking on his one leg for a while."

Naruto was glad to hear that, "Oh thank god, there kings are already gonna be on my case because there was another attempts on one of their lives. If there was permanent damage, I'd be screwed."

Tsunade could see what he meant, "I do imagine that would be the case. Roshi want's to have a quick word with you, if you've got the time anyways."

Naruto always had the time for a friend, "Does that mean that I can just go in now?"

Tsunade didn't see why not, "Go right ahead. I'm gonna take a little nap, because fucking beat."

Naruto left her to it and walked in to Roshi's room. He was lying on his bed with his leg all wrapped up. Still, the man managed to keep his relatively positive attitude, "Naruto, good to see you. I just wanted to thank you for saving my life again."

Naruto still didn't need to be thanked, "You're a king Roshi, I was more than happy to do it."

Roshi shook his head, "It's not just that. You could've left me there, especially after what I said about Fu being wrapped around your finger the other day at the meeting. Still you didn't hold that against me and I'm incredibly grateful. I should never have doubted you."

Naruto gave a small smile at his apology. That's what he liked about Roshi. Even if he was hard headed at times, he would admit it if he knew he was wrong, "Water under the bridge my man."

Roshi looked at his leg and sighed, "I guess that I'm stuck like this for the next couple weeks, huh?"

"More than likely, yes," Naruto told him sympathetically. His phone went off, so grabbed it out of his pocket and took a look, "Huh, looks like some of the guys wanna meet me at my place. I wonder what that could be about?

Roshi figured he better not keep him, "You should go. I'll tell all of the kings the truth, it was my poor planning that lead to this whole incident. I'll be more careful in the future."

Naruto knew he was right, "Okay, I'll go see if maybe these guys have got some good news for me. You just rest up that leg."

Roshi made a small joke as he left, "You know, because I have much of a choice."

* * *

Kakashi really didn't know how the whole date thing with Rin was going to go. On one hand he was excited that they were finally gonna do this, but on the other he knew that if this went badly they might never talk to one another ever again. He felt more than a little pressure because of this date.

Rin was feeling the exact same way, maybe even worse actually. She'd lost kakashi once, and she didn't want the two of them to stop talking again. There was so many things that she was wondering. What did this make them? How far would they go tonight? Would they get physical at all? So many question and so much fear, but only one night to try and pull it all off. This was going to be interesting.

Kakashi got to Rin's apartment with flowers in his hand. He really didn't know if this was appropriate, but he figured it couldn't really hurt. After taking a deep breath, Kakashi knocked on the door and waited for Rin to open the door. In mear moment, Rin was there to greet him, "Kakashi, you brought me flowers. That was nice of you!"

She took the flowers, lilies and tulips, and took a big whiff of them. They smelled great. Rin began to lead Kakashi inside and he started to smell something delicious, "Oh man Rin, what are you cooking?"

Rin walked over to her kitchen table and put the flowers in a vase, "Something delicious that won't kill you to eat it."

Kakashi scratched the back of his head nervously, "Still on me about my eating habits huh?"

Rin shot him a mischievous smirk, "Forgive me if I don't wanna see your explode before you're even fifty. You're going on a diet, and I'm gonna show you that you can do it without having to eat nasty ass food either."

Kakashi was more than a little skeptical, "Please, unhealthy food just tastes better. Something about frying food just makes it amazing."

"What about baking? Like baked almond crusted walleye with grilled asparagus?" Rin said as she walked into her kitchen to get the food.

Kakashi had to admit, that did sound pretty good, "That could be something that I may actually be able to eat. I love fish, so I'll give baked a shot."

Rin walked out holding the fish in one hand and the asparagus in the other. The fish seemed to by laying on something, "Oh, and there's quinoa under the fish, it's this grain stuff and it's delicious. Just try this stuff Kakashi, it's great."

Kakashi looked over the food skeptically, "What's with you and trying to get me to eat healthy Rin?"

Rin put the food down and just kind of shrugged, "You're an important part of my life again, at least I feel like you are...you do feel the same way about me, don't you?"

Kakashi answered almost instantly, "Of course, you have no idea how happy I am you're actually willing to talk to me again."

"Well, I don't want to lose anyone else that's important to me," Rin told him honestly, "So I'm trying to make sure you don't die of some kind of heart attack or diabetes or something."

Kakashi had no idea she cared so much. He felt kind of bad now, "I see. Well, If that's the case, I guess I can give up my donuts and junk good...or at least try to anyways."

Rin smiled brightly and started to dish out dinner, "Good, now try the food. I want to see if you like it as much as I do."

Kakashi took his fork and dug into the fish, talking a nice bite of it. After a few quick moments of chewing, he spoke, "Damn, that's good! How much work did you put into this?"

Rin took a little bite of her own, "It's a bit of pain but, nothing that I can't handle."

Kakashi started to take another bite of his fish, but kind of stopped for a second, "...Rin, what the hell is this? Are we dating now or is this just a trail run?"

Rin wasn't sure, "I was wondering the same thing. How about we don't put a lable on it and just see where it goes? We don't worry about the rules of dating and we just let this go wherever it will?"

Kakashi liked the sound of that, "Now that's a plan. No rules huh? Does that mean I'm getting lucky tonight?"

Rin blushed and ate more of her fish, "...We'll see."

* * *

Naruto had done very many crazy things in his time, most of which were related to the kings in one way or another. However, what Jiraiya was by far the most insane thing he'd ever thought about doing. He had to admit though, the plan would be a surefire way to get Madara to give Sasuke the information.

What else could Naruto say, "As out there as this may seem, we'll go with Jiraiya's plan. It's the best option we've got right now."

Sasuke was sweating from what they were asking him to do, "Are you sure about this Naruto? If I'm even a little bit off, you'll be pushing up daisies."

Jiraiya had faith in Sasuke's abilities, "I think that from where you'll be, you'll be able to make the shot just fine. If Naruto say's it's a go, then it's a go."

"I say so. Just please don't tell Fu about any of this. She'd never let me do it if she found out," Naruto said as he go up from his table, "Kakuzu told me today that they've found the traitor, so once we've got him taken out we'll start this whole thing. You guys can stay or go, which ever one you want is fine but I'm gonna go take a nap. Come on Kurama."

Kurama jumped off from his spot on the couch and followed Naruto into his bedroom. Jiraiya decided that he'd go home and Sasuke went out to do some practicing with his rifle. He need to be certain of his skills if he was gonna make this shot.


	10. In His Hands

Glad to see you're all back and welcome to the tenth part of Nine Crimes, Nine Kings. I know you all must be itching to find out what Jiraiya's plan is, but that'll have to wait until the end of the chapter. A lot easier to make you read the whole thing that way, rest of the chapter will be used to set up what needs to be set up. I'm gonna have some fun with certain parts of this chapter. So much to cover, but just one chapter to do it in. This is gonna be a good one!

* * *

Gaara had to admit, it felt very strange to be the one having to wait for someone. It was usually him who made other people wait, so this was a real shift for him. He was leaning against a wall right now, impatiently expecting Hinata's father Hiashi to come to his damn door. This was more of a formal visit, so Gaara thought Hiashi's apartment was the best place to go. It had been five minutes since Gaara knocked and he knew Hisashi was home, so he was just about to go and break the damn door down out of frustration.

Finally, the business man, who looked like an older version of Neji but with slightly darker hair, opened the door, "I don't know who you are, but I'm very busy today. I've got a meeting to prepare for, calls to make, money to transfer,"

"My name is Gaara and I'm your daughter's boyfriend," Gaara said, already becoming irritated with the man, "I was hoping I could have a word with you."

Hiashi scowled angrily, but let Gaara come in nonetheless, "I wasn't aware that Hinata had a boyfriend."

Gaara wished that he could comment on how Hiashi knew almost nothing about Hinata's life, but of course that would've been a bad idea, "I'm relatively new in her life. Since we made it official, I figured it'd be best to meet you."

Hisashi actually appreciated that, "Well that's very polite of you, a good start to be sure. I really am quite busy today though, so why don't just give me your phone number and we can talk later?"

Gaara wanted to roll his eyes, but restrained himself and took out some paper to write down his phone number, "I suppose that would be alright, yes. So I understand that you're a businessman?"

Hiashi gave a large grin as he wrote down his own phone number, "Yes, one of the richest men in Konoha in fact."

Gaara had the trap all set, now it was time to snap it, "Of course, until Madara rises back into power anyways."

Hiashi gave a derivative snort, "As if, that old psycho is down for good this time. There's no way he's coming back."

"That's not what I heard," Gaara said, trying to keep himself from laughing.

Hiashi immediately shifted his attention to Gaara, "What did you hear and how did you hear it?"

Gaara wanted so desperately to start laughing at how easily he'd played the man, "I work in real estate, and I've been hearing all kinds of thing about Madara trying to expand his business into to new areas to make this cash back and get business going again."

Hiashi was starting to get nervous, "How do you hear about stuff like that in real estate?"

Gaara did chuckle a little bit that time, "Do you really want to know about that or do you want to know how you can help stop Madara from growing too strong again?"

Hiashi knew there was plenty this guy wasn't telling him and that he was basically blackmailing him, but he didn't care. There was no way he could let Madara get back on top and to be honest, he kind of liked Gaara's attitude. The kid was cut throat, a good quality to have to in what Hiashi considered to be a cut throat world, "As if I'd ever let us fall behind him again. I must say, you remind me very much of myself my friend, oh so much of myself."

Gaara took Hiashi's number and handed him his own, "I highly doubt that sir, but that really isn't my concern. You go to your meetings and I'll be sure to call you later. I feel like my associates and your associates could be a lot of help to one another."

Hiashi wasn't used to doing things like this, at least not recently, but he kind of liked the feeling he was getting, "I assume of course that I can trust these associates of yours."

Gaara gave him a glance that could have been seen as both threatening and hopeful, "That depends...as long as you stay on daughters good side, you more than trust them. If you don't, well then I don't think I need to tell you what will happen."

Hiashi looked the boy in the eye and smiled, "You know something, I'm starting to think Hinata's not as worthless as some people have been telling me. Clearly she knows what kind of people to surround herself with. She just might learn how to run this business yet."

"Your daughter is one of the most amazing women I've ever known, and if you don't see that it's not my problem. As long as you treat her well, we'll have no problems," Gaara said as he left.

Just as Gaara was leaving, Neji was walking in, "Sir, do you know who that was? That was the scum that your daughters dating and he's,"

"He's perfect," Hiashi finished, "Gaara is just the kind of guy that Hinata needs."

Neji couldn't believe it, "That man's considered by most to be a criminal, how can you want the Hyuga's associated with that?"

Hiashi rolled his eyes, "How do you think I got the company started in the first place?"

Neji went wide eyed, "Wait a minute, I thought that you always said,"

Hiashi found the boy's ignorance hilarious, "Come on now, do you really think that I told everyone the truth about how I made it in this world? Grow up for shit's sake."

* * *

Kakashi and Rin spent most of their evening pleasantly talking about things that had come to pass and things that were yet to come. They mostly just loved listening to the other person talk to be honest. After that they kissed a little bit, but it didn't go any farther and both of them kept their clothes on.

There was one thing that they'd talked about more than anything else. It was their old partner, Obito. They hadn't seen him in so long, not since he'd been kicked off the force. The two of them had thought about going to see Obito for a long time, but they just felt too guilty. At the end of the day, it had been Kakashi and Rin's fault he'd been kicked off the force.

About two years after Minato's death, Obito had begun to go into a slight depression over losing almost everyone important to him. Minato was gone, Fugaku was dead, and Madara just wasn't even worth being around. Kakashi and Rin were the only two people left that he honestly gave a shit about, and he wasn't going to lose them...or at least he wasn't planning to. This became more than a small problem when Rin was kidnapped by psycho killer she'd been after.

The psycho's name was Kimimaro, and he was known as 'The Bone Thief' because he would murder someone, then steal as many bones as he could get from the body. She didn't know why he did it, but she knew she had to get the guy. After two months and 10 dead bodies, Rin was able to get enough info to nail Kimimaro, but she suddenly went missing before she could arrest him. Obito and Kakashi knew right away that Kimimaro must have taken her, as he'd been making threats since Rin first started investigating him.

They brought him in to question him, terrified at what he might try and do to her. However, there wasn't enough to prove that Kimimaro had her, which meant they could only hold him for a very limited amount of time. Obito knew he was about to leave and he knew that he couldn't let that happen. Kakashi had tried to convince Obito to stay calm, but the Uchiha refused to lose another friend. He went into the interrogation room and broke Kimimaro's arms and legs until he told them where Rin was. Of course he was likely going to lose his job for it, but at least Rin was safe.

There was a small chance that he might have been able to keep some form of his job if Rin and Kakashi testified on his behalf...but the two of them chose not to. They told Obito that he was clearly too imbalanced to do this job anymore and that he needed a new one. He felt completely betrayed and the three of them hadn't really talked since. After a lot of talking, and some more 'alone time', Kakashi and Rin decided to try and contact their old friend. Now they were going to try and reconnect with him, but how well that was going to go remained to be seen.

When they called up Obito and asked him for a meeting, he refused to tell them where he lived. After some compromising and convincing, Rin was able to talk him into meeting them at a coffee in the middle of Konoha. Obito didn't seem to have much interest in seeing them, but Rin was just too insistent.

Kakashi and Rin got there first and were both sipping on some coffee, which felt very strange for Kakashi since he didn't have a donut to go with it. He'd tried to get one, but Rin smacked his hand before he could. Now he was just sitting there sipping his coffee and talking to her, "Are you sure this is a good idea Rin? I mean Obito isn't exactly on good terms with us."

Rin was more hopeful, "Kakashi, you know how happy it's made me to reconnect with you. I just want to try and do that with Obito too."

Kakashi nuzzled Rin's neck and said, "Well I hope you don't reconnect with him in the same way you did me. I might have an issue with that."

Rin giggled like a little school girl and pushed him away, "Kakashi, not now. Obito's on the way and this isn't the first thing we want him to see."

"Alright, I can wait to have my fun...for now," Kakashi said as he took another sip of his coffee.

Obito walked over as he was sipping, holding a coffee of his own. He just nodded to the two of them and sat down, "Kakashi, Rin, care to tell me what this little meeting is about?"

Rin frowned at how cold he was being, "I told you on phone Obito, we just want you to be our friend again. Is that so wrong?"

Obito took the lid off his coffee and blew on it to cool it down, paying little attention to Rin, "Friends are supposed to be there when you need them, not sell you out when you're at your darkest moment."

"So you still blame us for what happened with you on the force?" Kakashi asked in a kind of small voice.

Obito took a small sip of his coffee and said, "Well I don't really see who else's fault that it could be. I did whatever I had to in order to save Rin's life, and all you guys did was send me up the river without a damn paddle."

Rin didn't think that was a fair way to put it, "After Minato's death and everything with your family, you just weren't the same. I'm eternally grateful for what you did to save me, but I couldn't lie to our superiors when they asked me if I thought you were stable or not. You just weren't Obito, I was worried about what you could do if left to your own devices out there. It was to protect you, not to hurt you."

Obito shot her a very menacing glare, "Protecting me? How did taking the only thing I lived for protect me? Not only did you take my job, but the only friends I had betrayed me! I really hope you've got something better than that if you're trying to win me back."

Kakashi figured he should be the one to try this time, "Okay, maybe what we did wasn't right, or maybe we did exactly what we had to do. The thing is, we don't know because it's already passed us. We can't change the past, so lets just focus on the present. We want you to be our friend again Obito, won't you just let us?"

Obito looked like he was thinking for a few seconds, and then said, "Nah, I'm good. I think me life's just fine without you people."

"But Obito," Rin started, planning to beg the man.

Obito snapped at them, "Don't you even start. What I did, I did to save you guys! Then you repaid me by fucking me over when I needed you most. Do you really think I'm gonna risk that again?"

Rin just wouldn't give up, "I understand how you feel, it's the same way I felt about Kakashi for a long time. We're friends again now, and,"

Obito suddenly burst out laughing, cutting her off, "Friends? Come on. You're sitting right next to each other and I believe I saw you two butterflying kissing before I got here. You're a lot more than just friends. Looks like you two finally got together...congratulations."

That was the last thing Obito said before he turned around and left, leaving Rin feeling awful, "Well that went well," She said sarcastically.

Kakashi put his arm around her to comfort her, "It was our first try Rin, we knew that it wouldn't go well. We'll get him to come around eventually. In the mean time, why don't you go home and relax a bit. Naruto's texting me so I'll probably have to help him in a bit."

Rin usually would've liked to go with, but she felt very tired right now. All she wanted to do was sleep, "Okay, good luck with that. you're gonna drive me home, right?"

Kakashi was happy to, "Of course, you just go home and get yourself some rest."

* * *

Hidan had always found Pakura to be rather strange woman, which was saying a lot coming from him. She had this strange fixation with fire that Hidan could never understand. While death, his personal passion, was something that had beautiful qualities, flame was just a greedy little monster that did nothing but consume. At least that's the way Hidan saw it. However, Pakura was also an extremely attractive woman. Any man would've been lucky to go to bed with her. Supposedly she was dating Zabuza right now, but she'd also invited Hidan out to the woods behind Kakuzu's office, alone. It didn't take a genius to figure out what that was implying. This looked like it was gonna be a good night for Hidan.

He was leaning against a tree right now, just waiting for Pakura to get there and imagining all of the things they might get to do together, "She's kind of a freak, so maybe I'll get to do some kinky shit. I just might get to put my dick anywhere that I want in this chick, hehe."

"Don't count on it Hidan," Pakura said as she arrived on the scene, "I never even said what I wanted you to come out here for."

Hidan saw her and licked his lips, "No, but I can figure out what you were thinking. Come Pakura, lets get wild in the woods, huh?"

Pakura gave him a sultry smile and walked over to Hidan. She leaned in close to him, slowly inching her face next to his. Before Hidan could grab her and go for his goal, he felt something on his pant leg, and not something good. His eye's shot down to see Pakura was holding a lighter to his crotch, starting a fire that began there and had moved to his leg.

He started to smack the flame and screamed, "Ah! What are you doing you crazy bitch?"

Pakura simply enjoyed watching the man trying to frantically put of the flame, "I'm gonna roast you like a piece of meat you fucking traitor."

Hidan very quickly got what was going on after he put his pants out, "Oh so that's what this is about? Kakuzu sent you because he found out about me feeding my followers."

Pakura just kept messing with her lighter, "Nice to see you've got the idea. Now be a good by and stay still so that I can turn you into a pile of ash. Or better yet, I could barbeque you and sent you to your followers."

"Fuck that, I'm gonna kill you and fuck your corpse you little bitch!" Hidan screamed as he ran at her.

Pakura stepped out of the way, tripped Hidan, and pulled a small flask out of her pocket all in one motion. She poured the contents of the flask on Hidan, "That is a highly flammable liquid which will burn in if even slightest spark touches it. You're quite literally toast."

Hidan got up in the blink of an eye and smacked the lighter out of her hand, "Ha, what are you gonna do now you freaky bitch!"

Pakura scowled as Hidan charged her again tackling her to the ground. She put her hands on his chest, "I'm gonna do this you sick fuck!"

The liquid on Hidan's clothes caught fire, much to his shock, and she threw him off of her. Hidan started to scream in pain, "AHHH! What the fuck did you light me with!"

Pakura watched Hidan burn with a loving glint in her eyes, loving the flames as she always did, "That's not something you need to worry about now. Right now you should just be worried about testing everyone's theory that you're immortal."

Hidan started to roll around to try and put the flame out, but Pakura just pulled out another flask and poured more of the fire accelerant on him. He'd been burned before, but never to this extent. His whole body was sizzling and crackling, completely being obliterated. There was no way he was getting out of this one. Finally he stopped screaming, letting Pakura know that he was dead.

That's when Zabuza, who had been hiding in the trees to protect Pakura if need be, came out, "Holy shit, he really let up didn't he? How did you start that fire anyways?"

Pakura figured that could wait, "Another time Zabuza, for now let's just watch the son of a bitch burn."

Zabuza put an arm around her and said, "Fine by me."

* * *

Kakashi looked at Naruto with shock that could be seen through his mask. He'd just gotten to Naruto's and heard the plan Jiraiya had proposed for them. It took a few seconds for it to register in Kakashi's head, "So that's um...I mean that's...seriously….what the fuck Naruto? Just what the fuck is going through your head right now?"

Naruto was getting pretty used to that reaction by now. He found it funny at this point, "The safety of those that I love is going through my head right now. That and the fact that this is the only remaining option at this point."

Kakashi gave him a deadpan look, "Really, you say this is the only option? I could think of about ten other things that we could do that wouldn't put your life at risk."

Naruto picked up the beer he'd cracked open and took a big gulp of it, "Do any of them take out Madara in just a matter of days?"

Kakashi shut his mouth at that, "Okay, you've got me there. But they couldn't use someone else for this? I mean there's just gotta be a better choice."

"No sir, not better than me. This is happening Kakashi, weather you like it or not," Naruto told him in tone that was as serious as a heart attack.

Kakashi had a big question for him, "What does Fu think about all of this?"

Naruto kept sipping his beer, "She doesn't and won't know about it until it's all over. She'll be pissed at me, but I've got to do this to make sure she's safe."

Kakashi knew that Fu would stop him if she found out, "Okay, I won't tell her. I'm not helping you when the shit hits the fan either though, you'll have to deal with her all on your own!"

Naruto could live with that, "Fair enough. You just keep everyone's head on straight when things get going, okay?"

Kakashi was already planning on it, "I'll make sure the kings are nice and calm, don't you worry. Speaking of the kings, how are they doing right now? With Roshi being shot and all."

Naruto was surprisingly pleased to talk about that, "Actually, they weren't all that concerned about it. Most of them were pleased that I went there myself to take care of the issue. All in all, I came off pretty fucking clean with this one."

Kakashi was impressed, "Damn, you really did. So what are you gonna do now?"

Naruto thought for a few seconds and enjoyed another brief sip of his beer, "I'm gonna wait for Kakuzu to tell me the mole is dead, make love to Fu, and spend the rest of the night getting ready for tomorrow."

It was a pretty good plan as for as Kakashi was concerned, "You enjoy yourself man, because one way or another you're a dead man walking."

Naruto rolled his eyes, "I've got faith in Sasuke's shooting abilities."

Kakashi slapped Naruto on his back as he got up to leave, "I was talking about Fu when she finds about all of this. Good luck Naruto, don't get yourself killed."

Naruto gave a quick waved goodbye as he left, "Good advice. See ya Kakashi."

As Kakashi left, Naruto finished his beer and got up to go call Fu. He needed to have one amazing night with her before he pulled this shit off.

* * *

Over at the house of Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura couldn't help but notice her husband seemed very stressed. He'd gotten home and barely ate any food when he got there for dinner, paid no attention to was on tv, and barely raised his head when she talked to him about the baby. It was like he was off in his own little world right now.

Sakura knew she had to ask what was wrong with him, which she did as they were getting ready for bed that night, "Sasuke, is there something on your mind tonight? You look like you're thinking about something really serious. I haven't seen you like this in a long time."

Sasuke looked at Sakura and gave a small sigh, "I'm fine, I've just got a lot to do tomorrow. Something for Madara that's got me kind of nervous, you know."

Sakura gave a sympathetic frown, "Oh, that's too bad. Is there anything I can do to help?"

Sasuke got into his bed and pulled the comforter over himself, "Not at the moment, no. Tomorrow is gonna be a very stressful day for me, I can already tell you that. Oh well, it's just something that I've gotta do I guess."

Sakura rubbed his back, "Sorry sweetie, I'm sure it'll be over soon. Hey, can I ask you something real quick?"

"Go right ahead, I'll do my best to focus but I've got a lot of shit on my mind," Sasuke told her honestly.

Sakura scratched her chin, "Well I've been thinking about when I saw your friend Naruto the other day, and I can't help but think I got the place I remembered him from wrong."

Sasuke gave her a nervous glance. This could be bad, "What do you mean? You just met him at one of our parties, right?"

Sakura wasn't so sure about that anymore, "Well I was thinking back to all of our past parties, and none of them really made me think of Naruto. I'm sure that I've met him before, I just don't think that it was at a party."

Sasuke's could feels his nerves getting worse, "Well that just seems kind of silly Sakura. I mean does it really matter where you met the guy? You said you like him and that's all that really matters."

Sakura knew that was true, but still said, "I know, it's just gonna kind of been bugging me, you know?"

Sasuke had to think of a way to change the subject, "Sure I can understand that. Oh hey, I've been meaning to ask you this. Have you been thinking about any baby names?"

Sakura's mind left Naruto immediately and went right to baby excitement, "Of course, I've been thinking about a couple of them. I know that you said your parents names were Fugaku and Mikoto, and think those would both be good names if we had a boy or a girl. I also kind of like the name Indra, I don't really know why."

Sasuke was relieved to get wife on a different train of thought, and kind of liked listening to her rattle off names for their future child as well. This kid actually had him really excited. He was gonna be one proud papa.

* * *

Naruto smiled with complete and utter release as he had his arm around Fu, lying naked in bed with her. The two of them had just gotten done with a passionate session of lovemaking, which Fu said was definitely the best sex they'd ever had.

She so happy right now, "Oh man Naruto, what the hell got into you? I get some random text to come over and you fuck me into next week. Did I miss something or were you just feeling really hot today?"

Naruto kissed the mint haired girl on the top of the head, "I just felt like showing you how much you mean to me, that's all."

Fu felt like she meant an awful lot to him, "Well feel free to show me any time you want to. I brought some clothes so that I can stay the night, just so you know. Maybe you can make us some breakfast?"

Naruto felt like that was perfect, "Sounds like a plan babe, but I've gotta leave pretty early in the morning tomorrow."

"Really, how come?" Fu asked him curiously.

Naruto gave her the most honest answer that he could, "Oh, I just need to go do a couple of things for the kings, that's all."

Fu figured that must be true, with the Madara issue and all, "Oh, well then I don't mind getting up a little early."

Naruto thought of something else, "Before I forget, can you keep an eye on Kurama for the morning? I'm gonna be pretty busy and I don't want him to be in the house for too long."

Fu smiled and called to Kurama, "What do you think Kurama? Wanna spend the day with Mama?"

Kurama jumped up on the bed and started to lick Fu's face happily, yipping as he did. Naruto chuckled as he watched the fox and his girlfriend, "Something tells me that Kurama is just fine with it."

Fu finally stopped laughing long enough to set Kurama in between them and said, "So anyways, I'm glad that Roshi's okay. He really had a close call there."

"Me too, although he still got a pretty good wound in his leg, " Naruto pointed out, "I saved him before it got too bad though."

Fu got look or realization on her face, "Oh yeah, that reminds me."

She reached up and smacked Naruto on the back of the head, "Ow, what the hell was that for?"

Fu gave him her best death glare, "You didn't even bother to call me and tell me that you were going to risk your life like that! Why the hell didn't you just leave it to one of your men?"

Naruto looked like a dog with it's tails between it's legs, "What was I supposed to do? Another king was at risk. I couldn't just hope that my men did a good job, I had to make sure the job was done right."

Fu still glared at him, "You couldn't at least give me a heads up? Oh hey sweetie, I just wanted you to know I'm gonna go act like someone in a shitty western movie and risk my life for buddy rather than just leave to the professionails, bye!"

Naruto gulped, "Well when you put it like that...Look, I'm sorry. I'm just not the kind of guy who can watch those he cares about get hurt. It's one of the things you said you liked about me."

"Yes it is, but that doesn't mean that I want you to go kill yourself or something. I guess I'm just saying that you need to warn me about this stuff," Fu said, her voice getting a little less angry.

Naruto was feeling awful right now, thinking about what he was planning to do tomorrow, "Fu, you've got to remember what kind of job I have. I'm responsible for a lot of peoples lives and sometimes I have to do things I know you'd never approve of. What do you want me to do?"

Fu sighed and told him honestly, "Okay, I really don't know what to tell you. One of the things that I love about you is how much you care about others. It's just kind of selfish of me to suddenly decided I want you to change who you are. Dammit, why does this have to be so confusing?"

Naruto knew what she meant, "Nothing in this life worth having comes easily."

Fu rolled her eyes and said, "If you start getting all philosophical with me, I will rip your balls clean off."

Kurama whimpered, so Naruto started to pet him in comfort, "Don't worry buddy, she's talking about me, not you."

"Very funny you two. So Naruto, what time do you have to go tomorrow?" Fu asked with a little yawn.

Naruto pretended like he had to think about it, but he actually had the time memorized, "I'll have to leave her about 7:00 in the morning. You sure you want to have breakfast that early? It'll be like 6:00 that we have to get up."

Fu kissed his cheek, "For you, it's worth the time. Let's go to bed though, if we're getting up that early anyways. Good night Naruto."

Naruto held Fu close to him, still feeling bad about what was coming the next morning. She was going to be angry at him, but at least she'd be safe. That was all that mattered to him. Although Naruto didn't sleep well that night, he still enjoyed having Fu's warm body lying next to him.

* * *

Sasuke heard his alarm clock go off at about 6:35 in the morning, right when he needed to wake up. He carefully got out of his bed so that Sakura remained sleeping and then went over to his closet. After moving some clothes, he found the safe that he kept in there and put in the combination. It opened to reveal a case inside of it, a case that Sasuke was definitely going to need today.

He picked up the case and opened it, making sure all of the proper contents were inside. There were various parts to his sniper rifle inside, not a single piece of it was missing. They were all in top condition, just like they had to be if Sasuke was gonna make this shot.

Once he felt that everything was in order, Sasuke closed up the case and got ready to leave. Sakura was still sleeping heavily on the bed. A small part of him wondered what she would do if she knew what he was about to go do.

* * *

Naruto woke up and made the best breakfast he could for Fu, even making a little bit extra to share with Kurama. It was nothing more than a couple of sausage links, but the fox loved his little treat. Fu got chocolate chip pancakes, her absolute favorite thing for breakfast. She didn't have it often, since it wasn't very healthy, but Naruto said today was a good day to have them. Fu didn't know why, but she sure as hell wasn't gonna turn them down.

Once they'd eaten their fill, Naruto let them head back to bed for a little while and he left to go set his plan in motion. He called goodbye to Fu as he left, "Bye Fu, take good care of Kurama."

Fu called back, "Of course I will, I love the little guy. Bye, I'll see you later."

Naruto mumbled to himself, "Yeah, see you later."

He opened the door and left, sighing as he did so, "Oh man, here goes nothing."

Walking down to his car, Naruto took out his keys and unlocked his care. He could feel sweat forming on his hands from how nervous he was. Naruto got inside and leaned back into the driver seat. One thought kept going through his mind over and over again...he could die today.

* * *

Sasuke left his house and went to sit on the roof of an apartment building in the middle of Konoha, just a couple of blocks from a coffee shop. He was assembling his rifle, slowly and meticulously. The clip clicked in, the silencer screwed on, and the stand was attached. In essence, the whole thing was ready.

Even in the situation he was in, Sasuke found his weapon to be a beautiful piece of work. He viewed it the way a samurai might view his sword. It was like an extension of himself. Sort of like an old friend.

The old friend thought shook him back into reality, forcing him to remember what he was here for. He set the rifle down on the ground and started to aim it in the general direction of the place he was going to have to shoot. It was going to be a mere matter of minutes before his target came into view. Now it was time to focus.

* * *

Naruto was sitting inside the coffee shop that Sasuke was just a couple of blocks from. It was actually the same one Kakashi and Rin had reunited with Obito in. He had a coffee in his hand, but he wasn't really drinking it. All he was doing was impatiently tapping his fingers on the table and looking at his watch. Something about what time it was seemed very important to him.

Finally some guy next to him said, "If you're waiting for a date son, I don't think that she's coming."

Naruto was a little startled and said, "Oh no, it's not a date. I've got a meeting to get to and I just need to kill time."

"Well you might want to drink that coffee then, or it'll get cold before your meeting ever comes," The man told him and took a sip of his own coffee.

Naruto took a drink of his coffee, which was still somewhat warm, and said, "I guess you're right. My nerves are screwing with me."

The man, who was smoking an old pipe, asked him, "So if you're not waiting on a date, does that mean you've already got a girlfriend?"

Naruto was starting to wonder why this guy was so interested in him, but didn't want to be rude, "Yeah, I've got a great girlfriend. A perfect one to be honest."

The man took a puff of the pipe and asked, "So what are you so nervous about boy? You ain't two timing her are you?"

Naruto looked a little insulted, "No, I'm not, although it's none of your business."

The old man chuckled and said, "I didn't figure you for that kind of guy. You don't remember me, do you? It's okay if you don't, you were very young at the time."

Naruto finally took a good look at the guy. He was old, very old actually, at least eighty. His hair was completely gray and he had a pipe in his mouth. The man did seem a little bit familiar, "I think I might know you, but I'm not sure where from."

The man stuck out his hand, "Hiruzen Sarutobi, the mayor of Konoha. When you were in grade school, I came to make a speech for your class."

Naruto suddenly remembered, "Oh yeah, that right. I put paint bombs under the stand you were speaking on and then set them off halfway through. That was a good day...no offense."

Hiruzen laughed, "None taken, I found the whole thing quite funny. You're name is Naruto right?"

"That's me," Naruto confirmed, "I'm actually sort of friends with you son. He said once his dad's name was Hiruzen. I can't believe I never made the connection."

Hiruzen didn't make a big deal out of it, "Happens to the best of us. So what's got you so stressed out my young friend?"

Naruto knew that he couldn't give the real reason to the old man, so he made his answer very vague, "Like I said, I've got a very important meeting. It's either gonna end my life, or save it. One of the two, ya know?"

Hiruzen seemed to become more interested, "I'm a damn mayor and I don't have meetings that important. What's the meeting about?"

Naruto put it the most honest way he could, "It's about some mutual interests m business has with another, let's just leave it at that."

Hiruzen thought that boy was hiding something, "You're not being very forthcoming with this you know?"

"And your some old man I only ever met in school," Naruto fired back, "So forgive me for not giving you my life story."

Hiruzen nearly spit out his coffee because he found that so funny, "Haha, well played there boy! So what are going to do about the meeting?"

Naruto had already decided, "Whatever I have to do. My life's not the only one on the line here, so I'm going to do everything in my power to get this situation under control. Speaking of which, it looks like about time for me to go. I've gotta go now, but it was nice talking to you sir."

Hiruzen gave him a very brief wave, "Well I wish you luck. I know what it's like to defend what you care about. You and I a very alike Naruto."

Part of Naruto wished that he was as legitimate as a mayor right now, but he knew he was far from it. He left the coffee shop while taking a sip of his drink. Once he was outside, he tossed it in the trash since it had gotten a little cold.

Naruto's whole body was shaking as he walked down the sidewalk. It was coming any second now, he knew it was. He hated how this felt, it was a horrible mixture of fear and anxiety. There was no way he could hear or see what was coming at him, this was going to be totally spontaneous.

All of these feelings coursed through him as he felt his whole body jerk back. He looked down to see a crimson mark on his white shirt, right around his chest. Naruto fell to the ground and started to black out as he knew that Sasuke had made the shot.

Back over on the roof, Sasuke watched Naruto fall and bleed out onto the pavement. Someone ran over and put pressure on his chest. Tsunade would be over shortly to take a look at him, just as they'd planned. Sasuke prayed that he'd made the shot, he prayed to god for that, because as right now that's who had Naruto's life in his hands.


	11. The Deadly Truth

Hello my crime loving readers, and welcome the 11th instalment of Nine Crimes, Nine Kings. I know that in the last chapter I had a totally evil cliffhanger and I'm not sorry. Let's face it, what's more fun than the build up to an epic moment in a good story or show? There'll be a pretty decent amount of things to cover in this chapter, and things are about to pick up pace since it's the final three of the first season. I'm really hoping you all enjoy it. Also, on a side note, in honor of Halloween, a holiday we have here in America, I will be starting to realse horror themed Naruto stories for everyday this week. It's called Naruto: The Horror Chronicles, and I ask you to please check it out if you have the chance. No that that's out of the way, on to the chapter!

* * *

There was blood everywhere, it had just been pouring out of Naruto's chest when he'd hit the sidewalk. Sasuke had made his mark, if only just barely, and shot Naruto in one of the few spots in the chest that would do no permanent damage to him. However, that was only if Tsunade could keep him from bleeding yout.

Tsunade had been asked to be near the coffee shop that day, although Naruto didn't tell her why, and she ran right over to help him as soon as he'd been hit. It was one of the scariest moment of Tsunade's life, but she managed to get Naruto's bleeding under control. She'd told the people that had been around him and watching that she'd get him to the hospital, which was actually kind of true.

She took him to her personal medical care office and fixed Naruto up there, just like she knew he would've wanted her to. It took hours upon hours of work, but Tsunade did eventually get Naruto in stable condition. He was still unconscious, but at least she was sure that he would live.

Once he was sure Naruto was okay, Kakashi started to call up all of the kings to tell them what had happened. The second that each of them knew what was going on, they rushed to his side to make sure he was okay.

Fu had been the first one there, and she was cuddling Kurama to her chest for dear life. She kept mumbling to herself over and over again, "You idiot...you stupid protective idiot."

The rest of the kings followed shortly after her, all of them greatly worried about Naruto's well being. It was easy for them all to figure out that Naruto had let himself be shot so that his mole could get closer to Madara and finally earn enough trust to get that information, which had them all impressed. He really was totally dedicated to protecting the other kings.

Of course someone being shot was something the police had to investigate, the fucking mayor had been right outside when it happened for fuck's sake. Kakashi made up some bullshit reason as to why he knew where Naruto was, that everyone easily bought, and so that let him go talk to Naruto to get his statement about the whole thing when he woke up. A little bit of legal mumbo jumbo was all it took for Naruto to get the police to drop the matter. The whole plan went pretty well all in all. Only thing was, now Naruto had to deal with something that was a hell of a lot scarier than a bullet...his pissed off girlfriend.

As soon as he was awake and available, Fu went right in to see Naruto. She opened the door and had a very angry look on her face. Fu put the sleeping Kurama on a chair and over to Naruto with a look of rage in her eyes. Naruto started to say something, but she slapped him before he could, "You son of a bitch! How could you do that to me?"

Naruto rubbed his raw cheek and screamed back, "I did it for you Fu!"

"For me? You did it for me? You know, because I wanted to see my boyfriend die on a fucking sidewalk! You couldn't have just fucking warned me?" Fu screamed once again.

Naruto tried so hard to reason with her, "Oh come on, if I had told you what I was planning I know that you would've stopped me!"

Fu yelled back, "Of course I would've, because it's fucking insane! I mean seriously, what were you thinking?"

Naruto was tired of those words, "I'm not answering that question again! You know exactly what I was thinking!"

"No, I don't," Fu scoffed, "All I know is that you don't seem to care about me!"

Naruto's jaw hit the floor at the insane accusation, "How in the hell do you get that out of what I did?"

Fu asked him seriously, "How do you think it makes me feel, watching the person I care about most in the world go out and nearly get himself killed day after day?"

That made Naruto cringe, "...I don't know I guess...I just wanted,"

Fu raised up her hand and said, "Don't Naruto!...just don't...I can't keep doing this. It's too hard on my heart. I don't think that you and I should see each other anymore...at least not in a romantic sense…"

It felt like someone had just punched Naruto in the stomach, "Fu, you can't be serious!"

Fu was starting to cry, "Please don't make this harder than it has to be."

Naruto grabbed her hand and pulled her close, "You don't understand, I had to do this!"

Fu yanked her hand away, "Why? Why did you have to make me worry like this? Do you know how scared I was?"

"What about me?" Naruto asked frantically, "What about how scared I was for you?"

Fu wiped her eyes, "Naruto, I could've handled myself!"

Naruto knew she wouldn't get it, "Do you really think I don't know that? I know you can take care of yourself usually, but this wasn't a usual threat! Madara was smart, too damn smart of my liking! He had to have known what you meant to me, and he'd use you to get to me! If you got killed because of me…"

Fu could see Naruto was choking back tears, and barely was able to ask, "What would you have done in my shoes?"

Fu shook for a couple of seconds, and then slowly walked over to Naruto and enveloped him in a hug, "I would've made sure that you were safe...no matter what the cost to me…I'm sorry Naruto, it's just so hard for me to see you like this."

Naruto hugged her back, "I know, it's hard for me too. It's almost over though, Sasuke should be able to get the information now. He must have Madara's trust after this. So are we good?"

Fu climbed into bed with him, "Yeah, we're good, as long as you promise me you'll never do this again! I know it's not easy for you, but I'd rather die myself then have you die because of me! Just like you said before."

Naruto had to give her points for using his own words against him, "...Fine, but you better not die on me."

The two of them started to laugh as Kurama pulled his head up and looked at the two curiously. He had very strange masters.

* * *

Sasuke had been completely and utter relieved when he found out that Naruto had survived their little stunt. His shot had hit its mark perfectly and Naruto was going to get out of all of this without any permanent injuries. Now Sasuke could move on the next part of their plan, actually getting the information from Madara. If he didn't trust Sasuke now, there was nothing he could do to earn his trust.

Sasuke had gotten to Madara's house the very next morning as soon as he could, not sure if he'd heard about his actions or not. The moment he walked into Madara's room from the increasingly empty hallways, he got his answer, "What the hell did you do?"

Sasuke put his act right on and said, "I saved your ass, that's what I did! Did you hear about what happened to that Hidan?"

"Of course I did, he got into a spat with one of Kakuzu's men and ended up burning to death. So what?...Wait, how do you know about Hidan?" Madara asked with curiosity in his voice.

Sasuke knew that's what he'd ask first, "It didn't take a genius to figure it out Grandpa, just looking into Orochimaru a little bit I found out he was sending organs to the freak. Well I was talking to Naruto a couple days ago, I've been getting all buddy buddy with him like you ask, and he figured it out too. Hello Grandpa, he wasn't killed by just some random person who works for Kakuzu. This was an execution!"

Madara couldn't find a fault in the boy's logic, "Fine, what you've said may be true. So what? Why does that mean you had to go and shoot Naruto?"

Sasuke easily gave him his reasoning, "Because Naruto was coming to shoot you! According to him, now that the mole was dead and he felt it was safe to start planning a way to kill you. I didn't know how much time we had and I wasn't gonna wait to find out! Admit it, I needed to save your ass."

Madara paused for a couple of seconds, then said, "While I think you should've talk to me first, I do understand you why you did it. Is Naruto dead?"

Sasuke gave a quick lie, "Hell, I don't know. I got him right in the chest so he should be."

Madara realized something, "Why didn't you just shoot him in the head?"

Sasuke had already thought of an explanation for that one, "He was still at least somewhat my friend Granddad. I owed the guy an open casket at his funeral at least."

Madara could understand that, "Okay, I can understand that. Uchiha's are men of honor after all. So, good work I guess. This should at least slow them down if nothing else and allow us to move on to the next phase of our plan."

Sasuke knew it was time to go into action, "Look Grandpa, I'm tired of being kept on the down low about everything. I shouldn't have had to do snooping just to find out who your mole is. I want to know everything about this operation. If you don't trust me by now, I really don't think that I should be a part of this thing."

Madara had emotionless look on his face for the first few moment, but then he started to smile, "Haha, my friend you are a true Uchiha! Of course I trust you. Ask whatever you like of me, I promise there will be no secrets."

Sasuke was so glad Madara had bought all of this. He started with an easy one, "How long until you think you've got what you need to take over the kings?"

Madara looked like he was doing math in his head and then said, "I think I'll go for my big hit in two weeks. I'll make them an offer to buy control of the Kings with what money I have left, they'll say yes to save their asses from my attacks, and then once I've got control I kill their asses to make an example out of them. Then, you take over and I'll die in peace."

Sasuke highly doubted it would be that easy, but that had just been a starter question anyways. The real question Sasuke wanted to ask was the one he was about to ask right now, "Okay, what about all of that information that you said you had on kings? I wanna know where that shit is in case I need it."

Madara could see the reason he might need to know that, so he didn't think twice about telling him, "Oh those, I keep them in one of our abandoned warehouses. Simply put, I hid the information amongst old files that aren't worth anything anymore. I highly doubt that anyone would've thought to look in some old filing cabinets."

Sasuke actually did feel that was a pretty good place to hid them, "Alright then, you might as well just tell your secretary or whoever you were gonna have give the cops the information you don't need him or her anymore. If, god forbid, you die before everything comes to fruition I'll hand whatever needs to be handled."

Madara did like keeping all of this in the family, "Excellent idea. The Uchihas need to stick together. I'll give the address of the warehouse so that you can go and check it out."

Sasuke decided to counter that a little bit and make it seem like he didn't care about going there, "I'll take the address, but there's not really any need for me to go and check in out just yet. Only if I have to do I plan to go there."

"Alright, just get me a piece of paper and a pen then," Madara told him.

Sasuke skeptically got one of from the bedside table, "Okay, are you actually strong enough to write with it?"

Madara shakily held the pen in his hand, "Of course I can. I'm old, not a fucking cripple."

Sasuke just watched him try to write with it, to no success, "I never said that you were. I was just making sure."

Finally, after two minutes, Madara sighed, "Dammit...but I am indeed old... very old...do this fucking thing for me, will ya?"

Sasuke took the pen, just barely being able to keep himself from laughing, "Sure thing grandpa. Just give me the address."

Madara told Sasuke where the warehouse was with a little bit of sadness in his voice. He couldn't even do something as simple as writing anymore. It was kind of sad in the end, but at least now he had Sasuke to help him.

* * *

Although Sasuke had made it sound like he didn't give a shit about the warehouse, he actually planning on going there as soon as he could. He'd gone home, had a quick lunch with Sakura, and then went right for the place where all the info was being held. Before that though, he made sure that he wasn't being followed or watched by anybody. For all he knew, Madara was trying to trick him right now. However, no one followed him even a little bit. That meant that he was perfectly safe to go and check the place out. A small part of him had been afraid that there would be guards or something at the warehouse, but that would force Madara to trust someone else, which he'd never do unless they were an Uchiha.

When he got the warehouse, Sasuke found there were a few offices that were on the side of it that had filing cabinets inside. Each of the drawers had what seemed to be old files inside of them, but the files held very important secrets inside of them. When Sasuke started to thumb through all of them, he found all kinds of things inside, things the other kings wouldn't have wanted them to find.

Sasuke just kept pulling them out and pulling them out, one after one. It seemed that Madara had dug up every single thing he possibly could on the kings. Unlike a police officer, he was able to do things like bribe people or beat them until them to get the information he wanted. There was so much info here that it wasn't even funny. Granted the cops likely wouldn't have been allowed to use all of it, since it wasn't obtained legally, but Sasuke was sure they'd find something in these files to take out the kings.

Once Sasuke had gotten all of the info that he wanted, Sasuke put all of the offending info in his car. Just as he was about to load up the last of the information, something about one of the computers in one of the offices caught his eye. It seemed to be much more modern than the others were, not new by any means, but still it was much newer than the rest. In the end, it bothered him enough that he tried to turn it on along with the other computers. The one he'd notice was the only one that came on.

That was too much of a red flag for Sasuke not to load the computer into his car too. He'd bring all of this to Naruto and let him sort it out. There was a hell of a lot of information here, and frankly Sasuke didn't even to begin to try and understand all of it. Thank goodness he'd gotten the good part of this job.

* * *

Gaara and Naruto had been friends for a very long time, so he'd been more than a little upset when his friend didn't even bother to warn him about this plan. However, he didn't stay mad for long, it was just about impossible to stay mad at Naruto. He was outside the man's room right now, waiting for a chance to visit. The others had to leave to take care of their businesses.

Soon he got his wish, as Tsunade, who'd come in a few minutes early to check on Naruto, came out and told him, "Hey Gaara, Naruto wants to you to come in here for a second. He said that he needs you to do something for him."

Gaara quickly nodded and walked into Naruto's room, the blonde had his arm around his girlfriend and had his fox in his lap. He was very eager to find out what his friend needed, "So what do you have that you need me to do? With us being so close to finishing this, it's gotta be important."

Naruto looked at his old friend and smirked, "What, no 'Hello Naruto, how are you feeling?' Just right too,'What do you want?' I'm a little hurt Gaara, I thought that we were closer than that."

Gaara was stunned for a second, then he started to laugh really hard. It was good to see his sense of humor was still intact, "My apologizes Naruto, how is the gunshot wound going?"

Naruto smiled and said, "Not bad actually. Sasuke made a great shot and Tsunade patched me up perfectly. The plan went pretty well actually."

Fu gave an overly sweet smile and then said in a voice that far too chipper, "Yes it did, and if ever tries something like this again I'll rip his damn balls off and shove them down his fucking throat."

Gaara had a feeling that she wasn't kidding, "You guys have fun with that. So what do you guys need from me?"

Naruto figured that it was time to get down to business, "I need you to do what you do best, kill some motherfuckers. Well, one motherfucker actually."

Gaara raised an eyebrow at the thoughts of who it could be, "You aren't planning on giving me the honor of killing Madara, now are you?"

Naruto knew he'd be hoping for that, "Sorry, but no. However, I promise you that you're going to love who you get to kill. Or have your brother or sister kill, do it however you want I guess."

Gaara needed to know who it was before he could say who was gonna kill him, "Well don't hold out on me, who do you need taken out?"

Naruto was so happy he was finally gonna get to say this, "I need you to kill the one other loose end in this little operation, Orochimaru."

Gaara got a large visible grin on his face, "It would be my pleasure. I don't know how I'll do it just yet, but I can promise you I can get it done."

Naruto had one complication to explain, "There is one little problem that I'm going to need you to take care of before you do it. I was thinking that maybe Yugito could take care of it."

"What's the issue? Must be corporate if you think I need Yugito's help," Gaara noted.

Naruto continued to explain, "Sort of, yeah. We've got to keep in mind that once Orochimaru dies, his whole experimentation thing is going to come to light. We need some kind of documents to help us make sure that it all stays under wraps so they don't feel like looking to hard into his death."

Gaara didn't understand that at all, "How in the hell is that a corporate issue?"

Naruto could see he'd confused his friend, "Well, you see, there's some documents that were going to need to have filled out in order to get all of it covered and it looks a lot better if we have a big companies name on them."

Gaara suddenly got it. If you knew what you were doing, a big company could get the papers to do just about anything, including clean out a guy's past before the cops could do anything about it, "Actually, I don't think that I will need Yugito's help for that."

Fu was the one who got confused there, "I'm sorry, do you know a company bigger than Yugito's to sign all of these papers for us?"

"Actually, I do," Gaara said with a hint of pride, "Let's just say that Hinata's father and I had a little conversation the other day and that he'll do pretty much anything I say now."

Naruto had almost forgotten the two of them were dating, "Oh that's right, you guys are banging now. How's that going."

Gaara rolled his eyes at how blunt he was, "I wouldn't say we are, 'banging', but it's going quite well, thank you. So anyways, I'll get Hinata's father to make the papers as official as possible. They should be more than enough to get us whatever we need."

Naruto liked the sound of that, "Well perfect, you feel free to go and kick Orochimaru's ass."

Fu added in, "If you make it painful, I'll throw in a little gift for you."

"What gift would that be?" Gaara asked.

Fu smirked mischievously, "You'll have to make it painful to find out."

As they were discussing all of this, Naruto got started to get a phone call. He saw that it was Sasuke, so he answered it, "Yo, Sasuke. What've ya got for me man?"

"_A whole lot of fucking files and big ass computer, that's what I've got for you," _Sasuke told him, "_You should get all of the kings together and have them look over what I've got here. Call up Shikamaru too, so he can pick the computer's hard drive apart and see what's in it."_

Naruto didn't need to be told twice, "You've got it. I'll call all of the others and get them over here. Thanks a ton Sasuke."

Sasuke shaked off the thanks, "_Just doing my job Naruto. I'd say I'll be here in about half an hour. See you then."_

"Yup, see ya," Naruto said and hung up, "Did you hear that guys? We're finally gonna get that information we've been waiting for. Think that you can wait just a little bit longer to get Orochimaru killed?"

Gaara just wanted to make sure all the information Sasuke got was good, "Believe me, I'm happy to wait. You just get those damn kings here so that we can sort this out."

Fu figured they'd go the usual route about it, "Me and Gaara can call the others then. You want us to tell them to come here, right?"

Naruto called to Tsunade, "Hey Tsunade, you care if all of the kings come here to look over some shit?"

"Fine, but if you break something you're buying it!" Tsunade warned.

Naruto could live with that, "Let's just do it in here then. I'll call Shikamaru and you guys start to call the other kings. Here's hoping this means were close to the end guys."

* * *

All of the kings had been ecstatic to hear Naruto had gotten the information, so much so that they didn't even mind having to come right back to see Naruto right after they'd left. They were all there in just the span of a half an hour, including Shikamaru who had brought everything he'd need to pick apart the computer Sasuke had brought.

Naruto and the others had done their best to separate all of files so that they went to the right kings, which was very easy since Madara had done that pretty well himself. Once they were all sorted out and given to the right kings, they started to read the files to see what all was in them.

Roshi was having a very hard time believing just how far back some of this info went, "Seriously, my minor in possession charge from when I was 16?" Is there anything this guy didn't find out about me?"

"I doubt it, considering that he found out about my beating the shit out of that guy who tried to grab my breast back in highschool," Yugito said as she read hers.

Killer Bee's files stacked up to about a mile high, "Resisting arrest? Motherfucker, that is a trumped up charge right there!"

Han probably had the least amount out of files out of all of them, "Huh, you know I'd actually forgotten that I even had a drunk and disorderly conviction on my record. Man that was a long time ago."

Fu had decent amount of files next to here, but not a ridiculous amount, "Well would you look at that, I keyed some guys car. I wonder whose it that was."

"That would be me," Naruto said as he rolled his eyes, "That was before we started dating. I said something that pissed you the fuck off and you put a nice big scratch in my brand new car."

Fu suddenly remembered, "Right, right. Man, that was a fun day."

"If you say so," Naruto said in small voice and continued to read his file, "By any chance do you guys remember why I assaulted a police officer. Nah, that must have been before I met you guys. It says that it was expunged from my record so I would've had to be a minor."

Utakata wished some of the stuff on his record had been expunged, "Attempt rape, I never...Oh wait, I remember what happened there. That was more of a misunderstanding than anything."

Yagura had a little more in his than he'd expected to, "Man, there's no way I could've done all of this. I don't think I even had a enough fucking free time to pull all of it off."

Gaara actually found his pretty funny, "Hehe, I remember that day. Oh, and that was just a day after I stole that gun from my bosses house. That seems like ages ago now."

Naruto realized that they were getting very off track, so he said, "Is there anything you guys can think of that got left out of these files that would do too much damage to you guys?"

All of them thumbed through it for a few more seconds, but none of them found any issues, "Nothing comes to mind. Seriously, this is like every single thing any of us has ever done. There's no way there could be anymore at this point."

Naruto smirked happily, "Great, then we'll just burn all of this shit and call it a day. What about you Shikamaru? Is there anything major on the computer?"

Shikamaru had his laptop hooked up to the computer and was typing away at it like a madman, "Oh, you've got no idea. The thing is though, none of it's about you guys. It looks like Madara wanted to keep records of any shady or illegal activity he made. There's payments here, records of sales, everything. He must have kept it on the old computer so that he didn't run the risk of someone trying to hack it. I mean, who would hack an old computer in a warehouse, right?"

Naruto didn't know anything about technology, so he just said, "If you say so. Was this stuff hard to get to?"

Shikamaru brought his hand up and made the 'so-so' sign with his hands, "It wasn't easy, but not of challenge either. Nothing a decent hacker couldn't figure out."

Fu was very curious about something, "Illegal activity huh? Like what?"

Shikamaru didn't know yet, "Hold on, I just got all of the files transferred. I'm gonna take a look at them know. Madara kept a diary on here too. I guess he was the kind of guy who liked to jot down his thoughts. Alright, let's see what all of this is exactly."

The kings all looked on as he scrolled around and started to click various things to try and find some good info. He came across something that really caught his eye, "Son of a bitch, he's the last guy I ever would've thought did that."

Naruto need more than that, "Did what?"

Shikamaru showed him a payment for an explosive device and journal entry, "You know that police officer Minato Namikaze that got killed a way long time ago? You weren't very old yet, but maybe you've heard of it?" Naruto nodded, as he knew the case all too well, "Well it turns out that he was actually the one set it off."

Naruto could hardly control his anger as he looked at the screen. This whole time Madara had been the one who fucked up his life. Fu put a hand on his shoulder, he'd told her a year ago who his father really was so she knew what was going on. She whispered into his ear, "It's okay babe, we're gonna get the guy now. It'll all be fine, I swear."

Naruto had to know the full story behind this, "Why did he kill the guy anyways?"

Shikamaru took a look at some more of the files and eventually found the reason, "Okay, looks like this one here is the reason. According to this entry, Minato was looking into something that Madara really didn't want him to. I know you're going to ask what he was looking into, but I'm gonna need a second to find that out."

Gaara was starting to notice that Naruto had a nervous twitch about him, "Is there something Naruto? You seem awfully stressed right now."

Naruto was able to think of a very easy lie for that one. Actually, it wasn't totally a lie, "I'm just eager to finally take down that little fucker, that's all. You can all understand that, right?"

All of them could understand that more very easily. There was a couple brief moment of silence before Shikamaru found the next piece of info, "Holy shit, this guy is even more fucked up than we thought."

Naruto had a very bad feeling about this, "What it is? What'd he do?"

Shikamaru didn't feeling showing them all this one, so he just told them, "Apparently one of Madara's grandson, some guy named Fugaku, was disgusted when he found out the full extent of what The United Sharingan Defense was doing. He was even gonna blow the whistle on some of it."

Fu frowned a little bit, "Oh dear lord, don't tell me he did what I think he did?"

"I wish that I could," Shikamaru said seriously, "but I think you know where I'm going with this one. Madara found out about this before hand and called the poor sap in for a meeting. However, and this was back when Madara was still up and mobil, he shot Fugaku the moment he got in the room. He shot the guy right in the heart. Apparently Madara made it look like a suicided, but one of his cousins didn't buy it. Someone named Obito. Minato looked into it as a favor to Obito and was starting to piece it all together when Madara sent him that bomb."

Naruto started to realize the full extent of what all Madara had done. When Madara killed Fugaku, he set in motion a series of events that he never could've imagined. He was then forced to kill Minato, which got Naruto becoming the leader of the Nine Kings. The very organization that Madara now wanted to control, he had begun in the first place. It was almost like some kind of irony when you thought about it.

Something else hit Naruto as well, "Hold on a second, all this stuff relates back to Kakashi. Obito was his old partner, Minato used to be his mentor, and the Fugaku case is what ended all of that. You guys think that we should tell him about this?"

They didn't see why not. Killer Bee started to rap, "Kakashi needs to get his revenge, so we must inform him of the plan! Fool, ya fools!"

Naruto rolled his eyes at the rap, but saw that the other kings seemed cool with it too, "Great, I'll call him when we're done here. Did you guys need anything else or are you happy with the files?"

They all seemed more than content with the file. All of them gave a brief thanks and then carried off the boxes that they had their files in. These little bastards were gonna get burned before they day was up. Although that wasn't what Naruto was concerned with at the moment.

Once they were all gone, he turned to Fu, "Hey, I'm gonna call Kakashi and Rin over to tell them what's going on. You okay with that?"

Fu was more than cool with that, "No, I like being around Kakashi. He's a nice guy."

Naruto was glad to hear that, "I'll call him right now then. Gaara, not to try and push you out, but I think you should go and get everything set up for Orochimaru."

Gaara got an evil grin acrossed his face, "I'm more than glad to leave if that's what it's for. Oh, I'm going to have so much fun getting this one ready."

It had been a long time since Naruto had seen Gaara that happy. To be honest it was almost creepy when you looked at it. Oh well, he had other things to work on right now. He just got out his phone and started to call his old friend, trying hard to think of how he was gonna break the bad news to Kakashi.

* * *

Kakashi was relieved when Naruto called him and asked him to come over to his hospital room and visit. He'd been so scared that Naruto might not make it during this whole thing, and knowing that Naruto was already feeling healthy enough for a talk. Still, there had been something about Naruto's tone that kind of threw him off. The guy seemed very nervous, like majorly so. It wasn't like Naruto to act like that.

Oh well, probably just still having to get over being shot or something like that. All that mattered is that Naruto wasn't to see him and Rin, so Kakashi was gonna go and see him. He picked her up in his car and then drove right to see Naruto.

They quickly reached Tsunade's office, gave her a quick wave, and then went inside to see Naruto. Kakashi saw that Naruto had his arm around Rin and the two were cuddling. He just had to make a joke, "Well, it looks like Fu hasn't tried to kill him yet. That's a shocker."

Fu gave Naruto a playful smack on the back of the head, "Oh believe me, I tried to. He's just lucky he's such a sweet talker, or would've taken him out."

Rin jumped in as well, "Good, because your boyfriend is totally bat crap crazy. Seriously, getting shot? What the hell were you,"

Naruto cut her off before she could finish, "Were you thinking? If one more fucking person says that to me, I'm gonna freaking smack them. Come on, how many times do you have to say...Um, Rin, what are you doing?"

Everyone looked at Rin who had edged her way towards Kurama, "Trying to pick up the cute little fox in your guy's lap."

Fu picked up Kurama and handed him to Rin, "You know you could've just asked, right?"

Instead of trying to respond, Rin just took Kurama and cuddled him. Kakashi watched her for a moment and then turned to Naruto, "On an actually relevant not, what did you guys need from us?"

Naruto suddenly realized he was gonna have to get to the hard part of the conversation, "I'm not sure how to tell you this, but some new things have come to light about my parents death."

Rin's focus shifted right from Kurama to Naruto, "Hold on, are you trying to tell me that you know who killed the two of them?"

"Not just them," Naruto said in sad voice, "But Fugaku too. They were all killed by the exact same person."

Kakashi was right on the edge of his seat, "So it's true, Fugaku really didn't kill himself. Hold on, who would have a reason to kill all of them?"

Naruto had no idea's as to how to break it to these guys, "The two of you should just sit down. It'll take a while to explain and you're not gonna like how it ends, but it's a story I've gotta tell."

Kakashi and Rin had had nervous looks on their faces, "Jeeze Naruto, I think that you might be overreacting about this. Just tell us who killed Minato already."

Naruto knew they weren't gonna feel anything like that once he was done with the story. It took him somewhere between 15 and 20 minutes to do it. Rin looked absolutely horrified not only at learning that Madara had killed Minato and Rin, but also that he had been willing to kill his own grandson.

Kakashi looked a little more on the angry side, "I don't believe this! All this time the answer was right in front of us and we didn't even know it! Oh, that son of a bitch is gonna pay!"

Naruto tried to calm the two of them down, "Hold on Kakashi, it's really not that bad. I mean, if all this had never happened, then the I wouldn't have met Fu. You guys know that I couldn't imagine my life without her in it."

Fu kissed him on the cheek, "Aw, thank you sweetie. Still though, we've gotta beat the shit out of Madara. That man is a freaking homicidal maniac."

Naruto hadn't changed his mind on that part, "Oh I know, my plans were still the same on that front. You guys got any plans on how you wanna kill him?"

Kakashi had something to point out, "Before we even think about that Naruto, we've gotta tell Obito the truth about his cousin and Sasuke the truth about his dad. It's only right that they have some say in it, considering what Madara did to them."

Now that Kakashi mentioned it, there was a lot of truth to that, "Well you've got me there. How about you tell Obito and I'll tell Sasuke?"

Rin and Kakashi saw the logic in that, "Good plan. Oh man, how are we supposed to tell him about this?"

Naruto knew how they felt, "Man, and I've gotta tell Sasuke is Grandpa killed his Dad. This whole thing is just so fucked up."

Kakashi got up and grabbed Rin's hand, "We better get going and try to talk out how to break it to Obito. We'll see you two later."

Naruto gave them a sober nod goodbye. There was a lot of things discovered today, some for better and some for worse. At least they now had the complete upper hand on Madara, and based on what they got today, they were gonna use it. That man's past was finally going to come back to bite him.


	12. At Last

Welcome once again my fiendish friends, to Nine Crimes, Nine Kings. The first season is quickly coming to an end, with this being one of only two episodes left. We discovered some pretty messed up things last time, so we've gotta have everyone find out about said messed up things this chapter. Mainly Obito and Sasuke will be the ones who really have to figure it out, and Itachi as well. There'll be a little bit of Gaara planning the demise of Orochimaru as well. Also, a small warning, there'll be a brief lemon at the beginning of the chapter. Like last time, skip down to the second page break if you wish to avoid it. It'll have no important plot in it, just the lemony stuff. Now my friends, please enjoy the latest installment of Nine Crimes, Nine Kings.

* * *

Kakashi walked into his apartment, with Rin following close behind him, and let loose a long sigh, "I don't think I've ever had to deal with that much information overload in my life. How could Madara do all of that without so much as batting an eye?"

Rin didn't know or want to know for that matter, "Let's just try and forget about him Kakashi, Obito's the one we need to focus on."

"Do you think he'll hate us?" Kakashi asked in a nervous voice, "For telling him about all of this shit?"

Rin was in the dark when it came to that, "He seemed like he already hated us last time he saw us, so who can really know. I'm just as scared as you are about having to tell him. What are we supposed to do?"

Kakashi could see his girlfriend, or whatever she was as he still wasn't exactly sure, need to be cheered up at bit, "Hey now, don't get all sad on me. You look so much better when you're smiling."

She looked up into his eyes and smiled, bringing her hand up to gently pull down his mask. Rin knew that Kakashi hated her seeing his face, but she never mind the scars. Most of his face to be reconstructed but it looked far from normal. The way she saw it though, the rough skin and marks gave his face character. It let you know that he had a past.

Rin captured his lips in the kiss and Kakashi quickly started to kiss her back. His tongue touched her lips, asking her for permission to come inside. She opened her mouth a little more, letting Kakashi slide his tongue in. They both started to moan, getting lost in the heat of the moment.

Kakashi and Rin started to try and make their way to the bedroom, which wasn't easy since they refused to let their lips break contact. After crashing into several walls, they were able to get to the bedroom and fall onto the bad. Rin ended on top and finally broke the kiss with some reluctance, "Well would look at this Kakashi. Almost looks like I've got complete control of you, huh?"

Kakashi didn't mind in the least, "Oh dear, it looks like you do. So now that you've got me, what do you plan to do with me?"

Rin leaned down and laid kisses up and down his jaw line. Then she unbuttoned his shirt, kissing his chest as well. She leaned down and whispered in his ear, "Maybe I'll just keep use as my prisoner. My little boy toy who'll do whatever I say, whenever I say it. How does that sound?"

Kakashi grabbed her by the waist and flipped her around so that he was on top, "Oh, but what if I was to break free?"

"Well then I'd just do this and get you back under my sway," Rin said, starting to grind her crotch into him.

That got him nice and hard, Kakashi threw himself down and started to kiss her again, even more passionately than before. Then he brought his hand down to her pants, sliding underneath them and getting a feel for her woman hood. Rin shuddered as he rubbed her lower lips, "How about we get these horrible things off you, huh. I'll take care of the pants, you get the damn shirt off."

As Kakashi pulled her pants off from her, Rin grabbed her shirt and ripped it off, breaking off half the buttons in the process. She was no in nothing but a red pair of lace bra and painties. The bra held her medium sized C-cups nicely and the panties clung tightly to her heart shapped buttox. Kakashi licked his lips as he looked at all this and soon got his own pants off, leaving them both in nothing but their underwear.

Rin sat up and bounced on Kakashi, slamming him into the ground. She grabbed his hands and put them on her breasts, "Come on, touch me right here! Please!

Kakashi was happy to do it. He didn't just to feel a bra though, so brought his hands underneath the fabric. A surge of pleasure went through him as he squeezed the beautiful mounds of flesh. She loved it so much, the gentle way he massaged them. Rin undid the strap of the bra and threw it to the side, grinding into his crotch once again. Both of them wanted to do anything they could to please the other.

Before long, he moved his hands down some more and got the nice feel of her firm backside. This was all just too much for Rin, just so much pent up energy. She hadn't had sex in almost a year and she needed it right now, "Forget the foreplay, let's just skip to the good part already."

Kakashi was amazed at how far she had gotten into this, "Are you sure Rin? I mean we've only been dating for mph!"

Rin shut him up easily by popping one her bright pink nipples in his mouth, "With all the stress we've had today, we both needs this. Something tells me you want this too, OH GOD YES!"

Her reaction was due to him sucking on her breast, giving her even more pleasure. Then he moved his tongue around her nipple, sending sensations that she loved up and down her spine. Once she was done, he moved down and pulled his boxers down, letting his now rigid tool go free. She smiled at and gave it a little kiss, "Oh, look at what you've got here for me. Something fun to play with."

Kakashi arched his back a little bit as she gave it a quick a squeeze, "Ohhhh, come on Rin! You said you wanted to the good part!"

"I don't know, this is kind of fun. Teasing you like this," Rin said, as moved her thumb around the head and squeezed a little harder.

Kakashi arched his back a little bit, "Dammit Rin, let's do this already! You want me to lose it before we even start."

As much fun as Rin was having, she was actually in agreement on his one. She was soaking right through her panties right now. Rin pulled them off of her made her way towards Kakashi. He watched as lined her now visible pink pussy up with his dick. Kakashi asked her with all the focus he could manage, "Do you really want this?"

Rin didn't want this, she needed it, "Just be quite Kakashi. Let me fuck you senseless!"

She impaled herself on his dick, throwing her head back with a long moan as she did. Kakashi felt so damn good inside of her. Rin to bounce up and down on Kakashi, her buttox slamming into his waiste every time she did. Between her pussy, the feel of skin mashing together, and the erotic sounds of sex, Kakashi was starting to be taken to a whole other place, "Oh, fuck yes!"

He grabbed her waist and started to pound right back into her. It was sloppy at the fist, the timing. However, they soon got synced up and were going at it hard. They were fucking like a couple of animals, "Yes! Yes! Yes! Oh, don't stop Kakashi!"

Rin leaned back and grabbed Kakashi's ankles, letting him hit her at a different angle. She made him stop the pounding, as she wanted to try something. Before long, Rin started to grind into him and moving back and forth, side to side, letting every him feel every last little inch of her pussy. Kakashi's toes curled and yelled, "Oh yes! Fuck me harder you wonderful bitch!"

"Oh, you mean like this?" Rin said, picking up speed. Her vice grip just kept getting warmer and wetter, it was so tight that Kakashi wanted to cum right away. However, he wanted to be sure she got an equal amount of pleasure, so he held back.

That's when she spun around on his cock, switching to the reverse cowgirl style. Rin kept switching between grinding and bouncing, keeping Kakashi on his toes. He knew that he couldn't hold off much longer, "Oh god Rin, I'm gonna cum at this rate!"

Rin was relieved to hear that, "Good, I thought I was gonna cum before you. Now I can really pick up the pace. Get ready baby!"

Rin started to go even faster, her pussy moving at speeds that caused Kakashi to scream out like a madman. He tried to catch up with her movements, although his hips were basically moving on their own. That increased Rin's pleasure as well, meaning it was just about time to cum. Kakashi shot his seed inside of Rin, the sensation soon causing her to cum as well. The two lovers were totally content.

* * *

They both just sort of collapsed onto the ground, although Kakashi was kind of already there, and panted, "That, my dear Kakashi, is just what I needed."

Kakashi hadn't had sex in a while either, so he was feeling pretty relieved himself, "We should do this more often. Seriously, that was great. So great that we lost our focus on what we actually came here to do. Figure out how to tell Obito the truth about his cousin's death."

Rin cringed at the very mention of that, "You just had to bring that up, didn't you?"

Kakashi grabbed some of his clothes and crawled under the covers of his bed, "Well, we kind of have to get it figure out. How about we just get a good nights sleep and then go and see him in the morning? We'll just do it like ripping off a bandaid, get the emotional pain over with quick. Then, we just do what we can to comfort him."

Rin got in the bed too, think about how she wasn't sure how well that would be going, "Oh come on Kakashi, do you really think that Obito is going to want us of all people being the one's to help him? Last time he acted like he hated us!"

Kakashi thought that at first too, but something else made him think that wouldn't be the case, "Strange as it may seem, I think that we're still the closest things Obito's got to a friend. Once we tell him the whole situation with his granddad, the only family he'll have left will be Sasuke and Itachi. They're gonna be busy with dealing with their own grief, so that just leaves us."

"Well how do you know that he hasn't made new friends?" Rin fired back.

Kakashi had considered that as well, "That could be the case, but based on his cold demeanor I doubt it. If he had though, we'll just let them help him and step aside."

Rin asked nervously, "Is it kind of bad that I hope he doesn't have new friends so that we have a way to reconnect with him?"

Kakashi chuckled and kissed her head, "Maybe a little, but it's just because of how badly you want to see us all friends again. It's kind of sweet in a way. All it means is that you care a lot."

Rin felt a little better after hearing that. She wasn't mean, just sweet in a strange sort of way, "Alright, I'll take it. Let's just hit the hay and then go see him in the morning."

Kakashi closed his eyes happily, "Now you're starting to make some sense."

* * *

Sasuke was sleeping comfortably in his bed, happily snoring now that since he knew Naruto was alive. After he'd made his shot, Sasuke had went home, waited for Naruto's call, went to get all of the information, and then went straight home. He ended up passing out on his bed, but only after satisfying a suprisely in the mood Sakura. Seriously, she pretty much tackled him onto his bed and ravaged the guy. Once that was all done, he just let himself sleep and sleep. Being so nervous about Naruto and Sakura's little exploit had wiped him out.

As much as he would've liked to sleep all day, he was woken up by somebody knocking on his door. At first he just let them knock, but the whoever it was didn't seem to be leaving. Sakura had to leave for work, so if anyone was gonna get it the door, it was gonna be him. He got up and put some decent clothes on, then walked through the halls until he got to his front door.

He got to the door and yelled, "Keep your damn pants on buddy, I'll be there in a second! Honestly, it's only 11 in the morning, what do you want at this time of day anyways?"

Sasuke opened the door and was shocked at who he saw. It was his blonde best friend and his mint haired girlfriend, "Naruto, Fu, what the hell are you doing here? Shouldn't you be laying in some kind of hospital bed or something?"

Naruto was where a shirt that showed a little bit of his chest, which was heavily wrapped, "Technically, I am supposed to be lying down right now, but I needed to come talk to you. I've only got an hour, since I practically had to beg Tsunade to let me come here for just a little bit. If I'm even a minute late, she'll come and drag my ass back. Can we come in and get talking?"

Sasuke of course let his friend inside, "Well yeah, get in here you two. So Naruto, are you sore or anything from the shot or what?"

Naruto rubbed his chest, "Oh yeah, it hurts like hell. It's almost like someone's alway punching me in the chest, you know?"

Sasuke didn't know, but just agreed with him, "Yeah, I think I get the idea. So how come you just had to see me? I could've just came and saw you at the hospital you know?"

Naruto knew better than to try and tell him something like this at a hospital, "Let's just say something like this needs to be a little more personal. I called your brother, he should be here in just a couple of minutes."

Sasuke was suddenly lost, "Woah, you're bringing my brother here too? Naruto, what's all this about?"

Naruto was clearly lost as to what to say, so Fu jumped in for him, "Just wait till Itachi get's here. Trust me, Naruto wouldn't make you wait unless he had to."

Sasuke already knew that, "I'm just curious, that's all. So what are we gonna do while we're waiting for Itachi? I could get you guys a drink if you'd like?"

Naruto could've used a little something to drink right now, "Sure, have you got a some Coke or something like that?"

Sasuke had plenty of that, "Of course, I'll go grab you one. Fu, anything for you?"

Fu was a little thirsty, "Some lemonade if you've got it please."

Sasuke started to walk towards the kitchen as some knocked on the door. The person didn't wait for Sasuke to answer it though, they just walked right in. Not surprising, since it was Itachi, "Hey little brother, what's happening? Why'd your friend call me over here?"

Sasuke gave him the only honest answer he could, "Don't know yet. He's gonna tell me in just a minute. You want a drink or something?"

"Just some water, thanks. Hey Naruto, nice to see you. Who's the lovely woman next to you?" Itachi asked and motioned towards Fu.

Fu introduced herself, "I'm Fu, his girlfriend. You must be Sasuke's brother."

Sasuke walked back in the living room and handed them all their drinks, "Unfortunately, that would be the case. I've had to deal with this asshole my whole life."

Itachi flipped off his brother, "Up your's dipshit."

Naruto shook his head and laughed at the two of them, "Hehe, talk about brotherly love."

Sasuke had gotten some juice for himself and took a sip of it, "Eh, we love each other, we just don't like to admit. So now that Itachi's here, what's the big issue? You didn't drag your ass out of the hospital for nothing. My shot made damn sure of that."

Naruto suddenly had a huge mood shift, "Oh, right. Well it actually about the information that we got from Sasuke when he was at the warehouse."

Itachi suddenly realized he was way behind everybody, "Wait, what information did Sasuke give you?"

Sasuke gave Itachi the shortened version of everything that had been going on, causing the young man to chuckle, "Ah, that old windbag. He really will believe just about anything is true if it comes out of the mouth of an Uchiha. Anyways, please continue Naruto."

Naruto picked up where he'd left off, "Well we found a diary in Madara's computer. He wrote down just about everything that he did and we found out something that you guys need to know."

Sasuke had a bad feeling about this, "Considering everything I've heard my grandfather's done, I'm not sure I want to know."

Naruto rubbed his hands together nervously, "I know that your father committed suicide when you guys were very young, and I found a journal entry about it in the computer...guys, it wasn't a suicide. Far from it actually"

Itachi narrowed his eyes in a very suspicious manor, "What the hell are you talking about?"

Naruto pulled out his laptop and opened it up. He already had the page he needed loaded, "Here's the entry I'd mentioned before. Just read it and you'll see what I mean."

Sasuke grabbed the laptop and he and his brother began to read it. Slowly you could see their eyes were widening, out of a strange mixture of fear and anger. His hands started to shake and slowly set the laptop down, "This is a joke right? This is just some kind of fucked up little joke you're telling us? Naruto, tell me this is a joke!"

So much of Naruto wanted to tell him that, but there was no way he could lie like that, "Sorry Sasuke, but this is true. He killed your father and mine in order to protect himself and his business. It was nothing as for as he was concerned."

Itachi ran his finger through his hair as if he was thinking, "I knew that Grandpa was nuts, but killing his own son? This is a new low, even for him."

Fu remembered the kings feeling the same way, "I'll tell you this much, I'm gonna be happy to know that motherfucker is six feet under for all eternity."

Itachi remembered something that Naruto had said, "Um, Naruto, I thought that you didn't know who your father was?"

Naruto suddenly realized he'd said a little too much, "Let's just say a lot of stuff has become known to me and leave it at that. So I know this must be hard for you guys, is there anything that I can do for you?"

Sasuke could only think of his poor father being gunned down by one of the people he trusted most in the world, "The only thing I wanna do right now is go and strangle that lying son of a bitch! He's used my father's death for so many things! Madara said so many times when I was growing up that I owed him for his help after my father died, and now I'm finding he killed him in the first place! That lying, cheating, no good little,"

Itachi cut his brother off, "Calm yourself Sasuke, getting angry about this will do us no good."

Sasuke turned to his brother and yelled, "The hell it won't! We need to and kill that bastard right now!"

Naruto figured he should be the one to cut in this time, "Hold on Sasuke, that's part of the reason I called you over here. We can't just go over there and shoot the guy, we need to think of a way to to kill the guy without raising suspicion. He was a big deal after all, someone that rich is gonna raise suspicion."

Sasuke hadn't thought about that clearly, "Fine, I just want this shit to be over with already! So you're saying that you need a way to kill him that'll look legitimate right?"

Naruto nodded, "Yeah, that's exactly what I need. Did you have something in mind?"

Sasuke knew exactly how to do it, "Well, there one sure fire way to kill the guy that no one would ever bother to question. He's hooked up to just about every single machine you could imagine. If something were to 'accidently' take out the houses power, he'd be dead in just a couple of minutes. The machine that helps him breath is gonna be what takes him out the quickest."

Naruto blinked a couple times as if he was thinking it over. It was almost like he expected to come up with some kind of issue, but he never did, "Damn, that's actually pretty much perfect. I mean, we'd have to think of some kind of way to take the power out, but that shouldn't be too hard. I'll see if Shikamaru has anything that could do it. Is there anything else you guys need?"

Itachi really couldn't think of anything he needed, "No, nothing major anyways. As long as you tell me when you kill him so that I can be there, I'll be happy."

Sasuke watched as his brother finished his water and then get up as if he was going to leave, "So you're angry about this too, huh? Well good, I was worried that I was the only one or something."

Itachi raised an eyebrow, "The man killed my father and then sang the virtues of protecting the Uchiha's for all my life. Of course I'm angry."

Sasuke nodded in affirmation and then let his brother leave, "Well then that's that. So what do we do now?"

Naruto could only think of one thing to do, "We wait until Kakashi is done telling your uncle the truth and then we go cut the power to that damn place, that's what we do. What about you Sasuke, are you okay?"

"I'm not sad, just angry," Sasuke explained, "I was too young to even really remember my dad's death, so it's more that Madara killed him at all. I'm never calling that asshole grandpa ever again. Fuck him man, just fuck him."

Naruto realized that it was almost to the time for him to be back at the hospital, "Shit, I've got to get going. I wish that I could stay for a little bit long, but Tsunade would fucking kill me. I'll see you as soon as I can though. If I'm right, I should be able to talk Tsunade into letting out of the hospital tomorrow."

Sasuke got up and shook his hand, "No man, thanks for coming at all. You too Fu."

Fu was happy to do it, "No problem. Oh, and since I haven't said it yet, congrats on the new baby."

That was enough to get Sasuke smiling, "I'm really excited about. I just can't believe I'm gonna be a dad. Anyways, you guys need to get going. I'll be sure to keep you up date on what's happening though."

Naruto and Fu both gave him a quick thanks and then left. Sasuke was a little bit sad to see him go, because part of him was still hurting on the inside. He walked back to his bedroom and fell onto his bed. The black haired man had a lot to think about now, and very little of it was pleasant. It was a good thing the United Sharingan Defense was finally ending. That company had never brought anybody anything but pain and misery.

* * *

Obito sat in front of Kakashi and Rin with a vacant look in his eyes. They'd just given him the truth about what had happened to his cousin and his grandfather's involvement in it all. The more he listened, the more he felt something inside him just slipping away. What little pride he had felt from being an Uchiha was now gone. He knew being an Uchiha wasn't really anything to be that proud of in the first place, but it was what he'd clung to when he was having a bad day.

He kind of looked at the two of them and asked in a nervous voice, "Do you guys have any proof that all of this is true?"

Kakashi had printed out all of the material beforehand, "I wouldn't want to say something like this without backing it up. We got these off from his computer. Believe me, I've had all this check out way before hand. It's all genuine...I'm sorry Obito, I really am."

Obito put his head in his hands, "I can't believe this. This whole time I thought that Madara just didn't want to deal with the pain of losing his grandson and that was the reason he kept telling me not to look deeper into it, but it was all just lie to cover up his own sins. God, I feel so horrible right now. I stopped looking into my own cousin's for fuck's sake"

Rin nervously walked over to Obito and sat next to him. He didn't push her away, so slowly put her arm around him to comfort him, "I know how hard this must be on you, but it wasn't your fault. What your grandfather did to you was wrong on so many different levels."

A week ago, Obito would have jerked away from her and told her to go away, but he need the comfort of a friend right now, "Thank you guys for telling me...I needed to hear this."

Kakashi quickly told him, "If there's anything at all that we can do, anything at all, just ask."

Obito was silent for a couple of seconds and then looked up, "As long as I get to be there when you kill the fucker, I'm good. I have to make sure he's dead."

Kakashi had feeling that was actually how Sasuke and Itachi had reacted, "Not a problem. Are you sure there's nothing else?"

Obito was quiet for a few more seconds and then said, "Yeah, would you guys be willing to join me for some lunch. I need to get something to eat but I don't wanna be alone right now."

Rin smiled sweetly, "Of course, we'd be happy to. How about the old diner we used to go to with Minato."

Obito actually cracked a little grin at that, "Yeah, that sounds nice. And thank you guys, for all this."

Kakashi got up and said, "You don't need to thank me Obito, it's my pleasure."

* * *

Gaara sat at his desk, slowly looking over the various plans he had to kill Orochimaru. He'd had a quick visit with Hinata that morning, but she had left quite some time ago. The first one he'd considered was the one that always the cleanest, poisoning by Kankuro. However, Orochimaru most likely knew what he looked like since he spent so much time working against them. Since that was out, Gaara considered doing it himself. That was filed under a maybe, but the other kings preferred that Gaara not do the deed himself, too, they didn't even like it when one of his siblings killed people because that might lead back to him. Speaking of siblings, Temari was an option as well. She could slip into a crowd, stick a knife in somebody, and then get out without anybody ever noticing. This was not a woman you'd want to screw with.

As Gaara looked over all these plans and kept one thing in mind, Fu had promised him a little gift if he found a way to make it painful. If that was the case, he needed to capture Orochimaru to make it painful. That made Gaara think of something that he hadn't in a long time, something that would not only kill Orochimaru, but be so damn painful that most people wouldn't be able to imagine it while getting rid of the body at the same time. That was a tall order to be sure.

Gaara called for his siblings, "Temari, Kankuro, can you two come in here for a bit?"

The two of them were just outside, doing business of their own, so they quickly were able to get to him. Kankuro looked around and asked, "What's up bro, you finally figure out how you wanna skin that snake?"

Gaara had an evil glint in his eyes, "I've got a plan, but we're not skinning him. I was thinking something more along the lines of dissolving."

Temari's quickly understood what that meant. It was something they'd done before, something they saved for the especially bad cases, "Holy shit, are you saying you want to bust _that _out?"

"Yes, I'm thinking about _that_," Gaara confirmed, getting ready to explain, "Kankuro, do you still have that friend that can get a hold of Perchloric acid?"

Kankuro looked like a little kid on Christmas, "Yup, one of the most corrosive acids known to man. Let me guess, you want enough to dissolve a body and container that won't melt when you use it?"

Gaara could see that his brother got the picture, "You've hit the nail on the head my friend. If you could find a place to dump the goo when we're done that'd be great too. That shouldn't be too hard, should it? We've asked this guy to do more for less."

Kankuro was already dialing, "Pff, give me 10 minutes and I'll have the whole thing set up."

Temari had a feeling she knew something else that Gaara was planning to do, "You're gonna put that guy in there alive, aren't you?"

Gaara leaned back in his chair and shrugged, "Fu wanted it to be painful. It sounds like this will fit the bill."

Temari had to agree, in fact it made her shudder just thinking about it, "Oh yeah, it's gonna hurt like hell. He'll be screaming like a motherfucker. Kankuro, make sure we've got somewhere we won't draw attention to do this at too."

Kankuro gave a brief nod as he was talking, "Sure thing."

Gaara was glad to see Temari was thinking ahead, because he sure as hell wasn't. All he was thinking about was the fun he was gonna have taking that little snakey bastard down, "Good idea, after this there really will be no trace of Orochimaru left. I doubt that many people are gonna miss him."

Temari looked noticed some of the papers on his desk and said, "Are these the ones you had to get Hiashi to sign?"

Gaara grabbed one and handed it to her, "Yup, these would be the ones. I doubt that he even looked them over before he signed them. He wants this whole thing taken care of just as much as wee do."

Temari was impressed at how much power Hiashi actually had, "Holy crap, what all did Hiashi do to get this stuff?"

Gaara already knew that Temari was not one for business, "Oh, he didn't actually have to do much. Just a little bit of help from a few friends was all it took to get those. We've got everything we need now. Tomorrow morning, we'll send Orochimaru out once and for all. May the hell we send him to be heaven compared to hell we put him through."

* * *

While most people were just getting excited and ready for something, Kakuzu was just relaxing now that his part in all of this was over. Hidan was nothing but a big pile of ash now, most of his followers had left Konoha rather than trying to get revenge, and Kakuzu's organization was perfectly safe. All three of those had The Demon of Hearts in a damn good mood. Only one thing bothered him, and it was something that had been bothering him for a long time.

He'd asked Sasori to keep an eye on Pakura as she was killing Hidan to make sure she was okay, he later found out that she'd already asked Zabuza to do that, and he'd noticing something that he then relayed to Kakuzu. According to him, Pakura somehow lit Hidan up without a lighter or anything of the sort. That wasn't possible, at least not as for anyone Kakuzu had ever heard of. This wasn't the first time this had happened either, in fact it had occurred a couple of times. As much Kakuzu knew that this whole thing should make him nervous, it honestly made him very curious. How in the hell was she doing it? Kakuzu just had to know.

He'd called her into his office just a few moment earlier, and she was coming in soon. Just to be careful, he made sure not to have anything too flammable in the room. Call him crazy, but he liked to feel safe. As he was thinking about this, Pakura came in, "Hey boss man, what's happening?"

Kakuzu was thinking deeply, so he almost didn't even notice her came in, "Pakura, so nice of you to join me. I was very please with your work with Hidan, just so you know. I'll be giving you a handsome bonus for your work."

Pakura beamed at the memory and the extra pay, "Thank you sir, it was the most fun I've had in a long time."

"Good, good," Kakuzu said as he mulled over how to start this, "You know, this how thing has had me thinking about your particular love of fire."

Pakura loved fire alright, loved it with a burning passion, "It's a beautiful thing, fire. Such raw power, such commanding fear, you know?"

Kakuzu just quickly agreed, "Yes, a wonderful thing indeed. So I was thinking back so the times I had the pleasure of watching you work and I could've swore that there were times I saw you light a fire without any lighter. Now how could you do something like that?"

Pakura blinked a couple of times as if surprised, "Really, you saw something like that?"

Kakuzu tried to act like it was no big deal, "Yes I did, more than once. Do you have some kind of little trick you use or something or are you just fucking magic, haha!"

Pakura was a little bit calmed by him seeming to joke about, and she admired the man quite a bit. She just couldn't lie to him, "Well, actually, it's kind of a mixture of both."

Kakuzu's laughter died down, "Wait, really? How the hell does that work?"

Pakura decided to try and start to explain, "Well, you know how some people are psychic and others say they can see the dead and stuff like that?"

Kakuzu was pretty interested to see where she went with this, "Of course, what does that have to do with you?"

Pakura had no clue how to explain this to him, "Well I've got this thing call Pyrokinesis, and it's sort of like the stuff I just mentioned. Most of them explain it by saying that a part of their brain works that doesn't work in other people, part of the whole people can only use 10% of our brain thing. My Pyrokinesis let's me do this thing with heat and that's how I lit up Hidan."

"So let me get this straight," Kakuzu started to say skeptically, "You've got something in your head that lets you make fire out of thin air?"

Pakura knew she hadn't been clear enough, "No, no, nothing like that. You see, I can sort of see the heat in the air, I'd tell you more but that really is the best way I can explain it, and I can kind of use it to heat up my fingers. If I flick two of them together when I'm doing this, I can make a spark in my hand. That's pretty much all I can do, I'm not a human flamethrower or anything, but it's come in handy more than once. Does all of this make sense?"

"Not even a little," Kakuzu told her bluntly, "but that's okay. I'm happy with your explanation."

Pakura honestly didn't care if he got it or not, as long as he was cool with it, "Good enough for me. Did you wanna see it or what?"

Kakuzu actually thought that sounded kind of cool, "Sure, can you light this cigar right here?"

Pakura watched him take a cigar out of his desk and thought about it, "I think that I can. Like I said, it's not a super strong flame, just enough to light something every now and again."

Kakuzu held the cigar out to her, "Well then light it up, I wanna see this thing dammit."

Pakura took a deep breath to brace herself and then held her hand up to the cigar. An orangish glow came around her finger and she snapped. A small flame that was barely visible to the naked eye came off from them and the cigar lit right up. Kakuzu took a long drag from it and leaned back in his chair, "Son of a bitch, that's pretty crazy. You're like something out of a sci-fi movie or something."

Pakura was breathing hard, "Not really, I've heard of a lot crazier things than this. If even half of them are true, then what I can do ain't shit. You ever heard of Edward Mordrake? The guy had a face on the back of his head along with his normal face. This was a real guy. Compared to him, I'm fucking normal."

Kakuzu would have to remember to look him up later, "You seem to breathing pretty damn hard. Does this take a lot out of you or what?"

Pakura started to catch her breath, "Oh yeah, it took all that just to get that little spark out of me. That's why i only do it if I have to."

Kakuzu could see this really wasn't anything too powerful, "Sorry to have tired you out like that. You feel free to leave so that you can get some rest. Thank you for your time."

Pakura got up to do just that, "You ain't gotta tell me twice. Son of a bitch, remind me to use a lighter next time."

Kakuzu laughed at the little joke. She was going to be very useful for many years to come.

* * *

Once the day was over, Naruto called up Gaara to see how Orochimaru's death was going to go down. Gaara was happy to inform him that Orochimaru was going to be burned up into nothing muk by the time tomorrow was over. That was one problem solved right there, so then he called Kakashi to how everything went with Obito. Much to Naruto's joy, Obito was in for whenever they wanted to kill Madara. Naruto could draw one conclusion from all this, he could get all of this done by tomorrow. He called up Sasuke and everybody else who needed to be involved, and no one objected to doing it tomorrow.

The end was near and the stage had been set. Tomorrow would finally be the end of Madara's attack on the kings, and the end of his life in general. It would be a day full of death, but at least this time it wouldn't be anybody anyone would care if they were gone. There was no doubt, it was going to be a day to remember.


	13. A Temporary End

Hello everyone, the time has finally come! The end of the first season of Nine Crimes, Nine Kings. Of course most of you been wondering how this will end and how I'm going to continue the next season. Since this is the final part of the first season, you will find both of those things out today. Now I feel like I should warn you all before we get started, and that's that I will be taking a short writing hiatus once this season is over. Basically, it'll be a few months before I get writing season 2. It actually is another thing that seems to make this more like real tv show. I'm not bragging, since this was a total accident. It's primarily because I've got wrestling season starting and I need to focus on that. With all that out of the way, please enjoy the final part of season 1. **(PLEASE STAY FOR THE END OF THE CHAPTER! I HAVE A BRIEF QUESTION FOR ALL OF YOU!)**

* * *

Madara Uchiha finally felt as though his legacy was secure. Naruto was dead as far as he knew, Sasuke was going to have a child, and they were about to have a stronghold on an organization that would give them enough money to rise above all other companies. When Madara died, he would die on very happy man. That is, if he'd died right at that very moment.

Little did Madara know, a small army of people were heading for him, intent on taking his life. Madara had killed so many people, betrayed hundreds, who knew how many lives he had ruined. Every little thing that he'd ever done was about to come crashing towards him. The old bag of bones might have lived if he hadn't tried to go after the kings, but it was a little too late for that. His greed had gotten him at last, and many people were more than happy to see that day coming.

* * *

Naruto was parked just outside of Madara's mansion, Kakashi and Rin were in the car as well. He'd driven them to Madara's house and Obito had driven Sasuke and Itachi there. They'd met up there early in the morning, just like they'd planned to. It had taken all night, but Naruto had gotten a hold of Shikamaru and found a way to knock out the power to Madara's mansion. He'd set up a, 'freak surge' that would only effect Madara's manion, since it was in the middle of nowhere they ended up having to make their own power station for the place. Madara was going to do die, but that wasn't good enough for them. They had to see talk to him one last time.

Naruto looked into the mansion and took a deep breath in anticipation, "It's almost time. Kakashi, Rin, you guys ready?"

"To see this guy die, oh yeah," Kakashi said confidently.

Rin was ready too, "If it were up to me we'd be doing then just cutting his power. I'd shove a can of paint thinner up the guys ass and twist the cap off!"

Naruto just took that as a yes, "I'll give Obito the signal to get started then."

He flashed his headlights and Obito did the same. They all started to get out of the cars as Kakashi asked, "So none of the other kings wanted to be here?"

"Oh they wanted to be here," Naruto corrected him, "I just told them that if all of us were to come it would tip Madara off. If two cars pulled up to his house and he saw that, he wouldn't think it was that big of deal. To get everyone they wanted here, it would've taken at least 5 cars. That wasn't happening. Fu stayed back to keep an eye on them and make sure no one else tries to come here."

Once Naruto's sentence was done the two groups converged. Sasuke walked over to Naruto and gave him a hug like you would a brother, "Here we are man, it's now or never."

Naruto smacked him gently on the back, "I know it, and I'm glad that I could do this with you. This can't be easy on you."

Sasuke broke the hug and walked over to his family. They all had somber looks on their faces, "No, it's not. So how about we just go do it and get this over with?"

Obito said briefly, "When we do this though, I've got a few things that I've gotta ask him."

"You mean like what in the fuck is wrong with him?" Itachi scoffed.

Obito loved the response, "Yeah, that's one of them alright."

Naruto felt like moving on at this point, "Okay, how about I just get Shikamaru on the phone so that I can get the power off already?"

Rin was all in for that, "Hell yeah, cut his life off right now. What's the plan once we do that?"

Naruto already had that figured out, "We go in there, we tell him who we are and what he did. Then we leave and let the motherfuck there to die."

That was more than satisfactory for the rest of them. They gave Naruto and brief nod and started to walk towards the house as Naruto dialed. Madara was in for the shock of his life.

* * *

While one of the king's major issues was being taken care of, Gaara was making sure that the king's other big problem was finished off. Well, actually, Temari was the one taking care of it right now. She was sitting in a small chair in waiting room near Orochimaru's office. Her face was hidden by the sweatshirt she was wearing, to make sure that Orochimaru didn't recognize her. Orochimaru was supposed to be coming out in just a matter of minutes, and Temari was the one who had to bring him in. Thanks to her skill with knifes, that wouldn't be too difficult.

She looked around the room and saw that she was one of only two people there. Temari had made sure that she went there when a minimum amount of people were there so that there weren't any witnesses. There'd only been one person when she first walked in, and Orochimaru quickly called him in for something.

The only other person in the room right now was Orochimaru's assistant, who seemed hell bent on getting out of there. Temari walked over to her desk, making sure to hid her face as she did, "Excuse me, do you think he's going to be much longer? Orochimaru I mean."

THe red haired woman scoffed, "Fuck if I know, that creepy shit could stay in there for hours jacking off for all I know. I wish I could just get the hell out of here already. I hate that crazy son of a bitch."

Temari could see that this girl had quite a mouth on her, but it was really quite funny, "Oh please, feel free to leave. I'm not an actual associate of his. More like a...friend, of sorts."

The girl suddenly cringed, "Oh god, are you guys gonna be fucking in his office? If you're gonna start screeching like a howler monkey I'm getting the hell out of here."

Temari saw her way in, "Yeah, let's go with that. You really better get the hell out of here."

The woman got up to leave but notice something strapped to Temari's hip, "Is that a gun right there?"

Temari knew better than that, "Of course not, it's just a little something to protect myself with."

The woman didn't understand, "Those two statements contradict one another."

Temari thought for a moment and was getting a very clear vibe that this girl didn't like Orochimaru, "What's your name?"

The girl blinked a couple of times and then answered, "I'm Tayuya, who the fuck are you?"

Temari pulled the knife from her hip and flipped it around in her hand, "Do you trust Orochimaru?"

Tayuya took a few steps back from her, "No I don't. You still haven't told me your name by the way."

Temari didn't intend on telling her that. She wasn't gonna pull that crap and get all of kings into trouble, "Do you think that the world would be any worse off if he wasn't here?"

Tayuya couldn't say for sure, but she did get a vibe from the guy that just felt wrong, "Honestly, I pretty sure he's a complete and utter psycho who chops people in his basement or something."

Temari was impressed with how close she was, "You're not that far off. How about you just let me do what I'm going to do, huh? You seem like a nice girl and I don't want to have to hurt you. All you have to do is walk away and you and me will be fine."

Tayuya paused for a moment as if she couldn't decided what to do, and then asked, "Can I just say one thing?"

Temari shrugged, "Sure, what is it?"

Tayuya pointed to the corner of the room, "There's a camera right there and one in the hallway. I'd recommend getting rid of the tapes before you go."

"Huh, good to know, Temari said with a small nod, "Thanks for the help."

Tayuya turned around and started to leave again, "With what? You were never here."

Temari smiled under her hood, she was liking this girl more and more. As she was thinking this, Orochimaru's office door opened. One man walked out and gave Orochimaru a brief nod. Once he was gone, Orochimaru saw that Tayuya wasn't there, "Oh where did that girl go? I swear, if she left early,"

Temari made her presence known, "Hey there asshole, I'm gonna need a second of your time."

Orochimaru looked at her frowned, "I'm sorry, but who are you and where do you get off talking to me like that?"

Temari took of her hood and smirked at the shocked Orochimaru, "I think you know who I am, considering how much you know about me and my friends. Like I said, I'm gonna need a moment of your time."

Orochimaru ran at her like he was gonna attack, "And I'm gonna need to cut your damn head off."

Temari easily ducked under the strike and sliced Orochimaru's achilles tendon. This was extremely painful, forcing Orochimaru to scream like a madman. He tried to stay standing up, but it was just too damn painful. Next she stabbed a knife into his shoulder blade, pretty much immobilizing him at this point.

Temari pulled the knife at and flipped him over, "You should've just come with me when I was giving you the chance my friend."

Orochimaru yelled, "You never gave me a chance!"

Temari chuckled, "I know, but let's just pretend that I did for fun."

With that, she smacked his head on the ground and knocked him out. Temari couldn't help but think, if it was this much fun beating the shit out of him, how much fun would it be to burn him? She couldn't wait to find out.

* * *

While everything was drawing to a close, one person was going totally stir crazy from sitting around and doing nothing. Fu was not the kind of person who sat around and baby sat other people, ever. That just wasn't her style, she was a woman of action. This whole things with Madara had driven her nuts since Naruto had been treating her like she was made of paper. Granted, the two of them finally had a big confrontation after Naruto had himself shot and he promised not to do that ever again, but that didn't help her now. She was Naruto's right hand woman, which meant she was the only one Naruto trusted enough to make sure that the other kings didn't do anything stupid. Until Madara was dead, she was stuck at Naruto's restaurant looking over the other kings.

Fu had Kurama in her lap, she was stroking him as she looked over the other seven kings who were getting a little something to eat right now, "Man this boring. I wish daddy would just call me and tell me it's over already so that we can go out and have some fun. Oh well, at least mama has you to play with, huh buddy?"

Kurama wagged his tail a little bit and started to lick Fu's face, something she'd grown quite accustomed to. It didn't tickle her as much as it used to, but she still laughed for the fox's satisfaction. Mei, who was there with Yagura, saw this and giggled at the exchange, "Well isn't that just the cutest thing. The little guy's got the same color hair that I do too."

As Mei smiled at him, Kurotsuchi, of course there with Roshi, came up and pet the fox as well, "This guy really is a chick magnet, isn't he?"

"Yes he is. Luckily I don't have to worry about Naruto using him for that, now do?" Fu told her with confidence.

Mei knew Naruto well enough to know that was the truth, he'd never cheat on Fu, "Man, I really need to get me a man like that. To be honest I should've scooped up Naruto when I had the chance. Oh well, guess you got him first, eh Fu?"

Fu felt like she'd gotten pretty lucky on that one, "Yes I did, and I'm gonna do whatever I can to keep him. I'm sure that both of you will find someone special though."

Kurotsuchi stole a quick glance at Han, "Yes, I'm sure that I will."

Yagura didn't like all this talking, "Are you girls almost done with this sewing circle or we gonna have to wait longer to actually get some shit done?"

Fu briefly flipped Yagura off and Kurama yipped angrily at him. While they glared at each other, her phone went off and she quickly checked it, "Gaara say's they've got a hold of Orochimaru now. The clean up crew is already on it's way to get rid of the blood they left at his office and erase all of the tapes. He'll be dead within the hour and no one will be able to trace him back to us. You happy now Yagura?"

Yagura wouldn't say that he was happy, maybe in a little better mood if nothing else "I'll be happy when Orochimaru and Madara are dead, simple as that."

Fu could see there was no use arguing with him at this point. She just let him bitch while silently smiling at what Orochimaru must be going through. If he did well, Fu would have something very special to give him. A little something that she knew Gaara would love.

* * *

Orochimaru had gotten himself into some pretty sticky situations, but this was the first one he really didn't think that he could get out of. He was bound and gagged in some dark room, laying on a hard concrete floor. Temari had knocked him out taken him here, wherever it was since he hadn't been able to see, and he knew he was in for something bad. No matter how much he kicked and squirmed though, he couldn't break free.

He was making so much of a racket that Gaara came into to check on him. Orochimaru looked up when it began to crack through the doorway to see the young red haired man standing before him, "Well hello there Orochimaru, you seem to be making an awful lot of racket for a man who has no chance of escaping. Why don't I take that gag out of your mouth so that you can talk, hm?"

Gaara walked over and ripped the tape off from Orochimaru's mouth and took the cloth out from inside. As soon as he could talk again, Orochimaru screamed, "You bastards! Why are you keeping me here? What the hell do you want with me?"

Gaara looked at him with an evil grin and said, "Oh, we just want to make you pay for causing us so much damn trouble, that's all. You see the kings know who you are and want you to to pay for what you've done. You're okay with that, aren't you?"

"Why you insolent little rat! Do you have any idea who I work for and what he could do to you?" Orochimaru snapped angrily at him.

Gaara knew how confident Orochimaru must feel right now, so he needed to break him. He'd struggle less that way, "You work for Madara Uchiha, someone who's about to be dead man quite frankly. On the other hand, you're already a dead man. I don't think that you know it quite yet though."

Orochimaru got a frantic look in his eyes, "Now just hold on! If you kill me, Madara will,"

"Madara's not gonna do shit," Gaara said with matter a factly, "Every plan Madara had, we shot down, including all that info he had on us. You messed with the wrong fucking people my man."

Orochimaru was quickly running out of ideas, "Please, you can't kill me! My life's work isn't finished yet! I'm going to become immortal! I'll make all of you immortal too! Please, just let me live!"

Gaara smacked him across the face, hard, "Get a fucking grip you pathetic little slime ball. You're done, there's no escaping this one. Shut up and take it like a man!"

Orochimaru just kept thrashing, "Take it like man? You telling me to take my death like a man!"

Gaara grabbed the cloth and shoved it back in Orochimaru's mouth, then put the tape back on, "You really aren't gonna shut up, are you? Oh well, I guess we should just get this over with already."

Orochimaru tried to scream as Gaara called for his brother, "Kankuro, you mind helping me move this guy? Something tells me he's not gonna come quietly."

Kankuro came in and got a look at the doomed doctor, "It'd be my pleasure. I'll even help you give him his little, 'bath', hehe!"

Gaara grabbed Orochimaru's shoulders and Kankuro grabbed his ankles. Orochimaru kept thrashing, but these guys were damn strong. Keeping a hold of him was child's play as they brought him into the next room where there was a small tub, just enough big enough to fit a body inside. Temari was adjusting some kind of camera that was pointing at the tub.

Kankuro could see Orochimaru looking at it in confusion, so he leaned down and said, "It's just a little something so that we can record your final moments. The kings all wanna see it, and something tells me I won't mind watching it again either."

Orochimaru looked up at them with anger in his eyes. Gaara reached down and ripped the tape off from his mouth again, "Let's make sure that you can talk for this. We wanna hear you scream."

Orochimaru looked over at the tub and saw some kind of liquid inside of it, "What is that? Good god, what's in there?"

They lifted him up above the tub and Gaara whispered into his ear, "That's your death. That's god bitch!"

Orochimaru's whole body quivered at the very sight. He started to mumble incoherently, "I'm gonna die...it's finally over...I'm gonna die."

Gaara grew tired of listening to this, "Say whatever you want, nothing is going to change what we plan to do here. Have fun in there you crazy bastard."

Kankuro and Gaara both dropped Orochimaru, quickly jumping away to avoid splashback. Orochimaru started immediately began to scream, although you could only hear it when he pulled his head out of acid for brief moments. You could hear his body sizzling and a small white steamish type of cloud rose from the acid. Clearly this was quite a painful process.

Gaara turned and asked Temari and asked, "Camera's on, right?"

Temari could see that the red light was flashing, "Oh yeah, it's. The kings are gonna get a great view of all of this. Hey, can I recomend someone we should look into for a second?"

Gaara kept watching Orochimaru's lungs fill with acid and his throat burn as he asked, "Someone we need to kill or someone we might want to hire for something?"

Temari caught a glimpse of Orochimaru's leg come out of the tub. It was burned and skin was falling off from it, "She seemed like she might be our kind of people. I don't know, there was just something about her."

Kankuro just couldn't help but ask as Orochimaru's trashing started to die down, "Was she hot?"

Temari shot him a quick glance, "What, were thinking of getting a real girlfriend so that you can stop lying to people like Zaku?"

Kankuro answered carefully as Orochimaru's head stayed under the acid, "So what if I am? Was she hot or not."

"Well I'm not bi, but she seemed pretty damn attractive to me," Temari told him honestly.

Gaara walked over the tub, which nothing was moving inside of, and put on a special glove. He grabbed Orochimaru's head from under the acid and pulled it up. His face was unrecognizable and his eyes had turned white. The man was dead for sure, so Gaara dropped him back in the acid so that the liquid could finish it's job, "Give me her name and look into her. Always happy to try and find new recruits."

As Gaara stepped away from dissolving body, Temari took asked an important question, "How long do we have to clean out Orochimaru's apartment? I know you said that we lost that right once they found out that he was dead, so we'd better do it soon."

Kankuro had already taken care of it, "I told the cleaning crew to go to his place as soon as they were done at the doctors office. Anything that would be too damaging to us or draw too much attention to Orochimaru's death is already being removed. All we've got to do now is waste for him to turn to mush."

Gaara approved as he noted something, "This really isn't a dignified way to go out, you know?"

Temari didn't give a shit, "The way his poor victims went out wasn't very dignified either. I'll cry no tears over him."

Gaara walked over and took the sim card out of the recording device they'd used for Orochimaru, "Would one of you run this over to the kings? They said to give it to them as soon as possible. I wanna stay here and make sure that nothing happens and I don't need to watch it since I saw the whole thing live."

Temari took a hold of it and shrugged, "Sure, I'll get it to them. This place is gonna be sticking to high heaven and I ain't dealing it.

Gaara had already smelt the flesh frying, so he figured leaving was in her best interest, "Okay, Kankuro and I can take care of the rest of this. Right Kankuro?"

Kankuro was already looking out the window, scoping out spots in the seas of old warehouse that would be good to pour the goop, "Hm, that pipe over there is closer, but there's a lot more shit in the way. That one over there would be easier to get to, but take longer. However, I know right wear that one pipe leads, unlike the closer one. Yeah, let's go with that."

Gaara turned back to Temari, "Yeah, you can feel free to leave. This is a job that's more or less made for me and Kankuro. Tell the others I said hello."

Temari gave a brief wave as they left, "Will do. Have fun dealing with liquid body parts."

Gaara looked at the tub and gave a strangely happy smile, "Don't worry, I will."

* * *

That was one psycho dead, now only one more to go. Madara was not going to be far behind him, as Gaara's say so was the only thing they were waiting on. They, was of course Naruto and the little possy that he had with him. He and the other for had very quietly gone into Madara's house using Sasuke's key. It was very important that they didn't alert Madara so that no problems would arise with him. Who knew what kind of people he could manage to call up.

They wanted to make sure they that Orochimaru was dead and destroyed so everyone that was related to Madara had no chance of getting to him. After that, he would become merely another casualty of the Nine Kings. Although this one would be one the kings would never forget. Like Orochimaru's death, they were going to film it so that the others kings could have the pleasure of watching it. Naruto intended on having the tapes erased after just one viewing, but he'd have to wait for the king's reaction to see how that was going to go.

All this and much more ran through Naruto's mind as he waiting with the others in the hallway outside of Madara's room. Sasuke whispered over to him, once again being sure to keep Madara from hearing them, "How much longer is it going to take those guys to that creepy old fuck? For god's sake, a want him dead already."

Naruto knew that it wouldn't be much longer, "I'm sure I'll get a text soon. We'll be going in there in no time Sasuke. So do you really think that Orochimaru hit on you when you helped him kill that Gato guy?"

Itachi quickly turned and raised an eyebrow, "The guy hit on you?"

Sasuke shuddered a little bit, "That's what it felt like, yeah. I thought that I was gonna hurl."

"Huh, and here I thought that cocksucker was just a figure of speech," Rin noted, half jokingly.

Naruto really had a very hard timing keeping himself from laughing. Luckily his phone went off in his pocket to stop him. He pulled it out and got a saw that it was from Gaara, "We've got the go ahead. Any time we want to, we're free to go inside."

Kakashi quickly asked, "Wait, what about Shikamaru shutting off the power to this place? Wasn't that kind of an important detail?"

Naruto waved it off, "Don't worry, I've already texted him and he's in the process of doing it. I'm pretty sure that if Madara tries to call anyone before that we can get to and get the phone out of his hand. That man's older than dust for shit's sake."

Sasuke had to agree, "Stop postponing this Kakashi, I want to get some answers from this guy already! He needs to tell me what was going through his mind when he killed my father."

After hearing that, no one could really tell Sasuke no. They went up to the door to Madara's room and slowly opened, eager to see this madman in his final moments. The time had truly come.

* * *

Back at the restaurant, all of the kings had eaten and had a pretty good conversation, but now they were starting to get bored. They were running out of things to do and Fu still refused to let any of them leave. After some debating and whining, they eventually all agreed to play some poker to pass the time. Han was in the lead, Fu was right behind him, Yugito wasn't doing too bad in third, Roshi was in solidly in fourth, Yagura wasn't really try and was fifth, and Utakata was in dead last. Bee had chosen not to play and just stayed on as the constant dealer.

Utakata was getting angry at the fact that he just couldn't seem to win, "What the hell Han, another fucking bluff? I swear, this just isn't fair! You shouldn't be allowed to wear that damn mask while you're playing! No one can tell what you're thinking!"

Han smiled eviling under his mask, "Hey, nothing's stopping you from putting on a mask of your own. Besides, Fu seems to be keeping up with me just fine."

Fu just played with her chips and said in an annoyed tone, "I'm a card shark, no two ways about it."

Utakata huffed and leaned back in his chair, "I still say it's bullshit."

Fu was about to snap at him when he phone went off. She quickly checked it and got extremely excited, "Good news people, Orochimaru's dead and Madara's on his way to grave too! Temari should be over here in a couple minutes with the tape! Woohoo!"

All of the kings let out a loud cheer, clearly excited that the first thorn in their side had been removed. However, one of the kings, Bee, just had to ask something, "Anybody else think that this is just too easy?"

They all turned to him with confused looks on their faces. Yugito was the first to ask, "What do you mean? Easy is the best possible way that this could go! We've worked hard to make sure that Madara was fucked over!"

Bee agreed with them on that, "I know yo! But it just seems like the whole situation was just way to easy to fix. The worst thing that happened was Han lost some cash and Roshi got shot in the leg. Naruto go cap in his ass too, but that was by choice. I don't know it just feels kind of off to me, ya feel me?"

They all just kept giving him a funny look and Roshi said, "No, not at all actually."

Bee decided to just leave it be, "Ya, I'm probably just crazy. We're just badass, that's why we got it fixed so quick."

"We're the Nine Kings Bee, nothing can take us down," Fu told him confidently, "Madara was a decent threat, but we've got so many advantages that he ever will. We got really lucky with our mole, he got pretty much all the info that we need in no time at all. There's nothing too easy about this Bee, we're just that good."

Bee still felt a little off about it, but had to believe that Fu was right, "To the girl whose hair is mint, your words should be in print!"

For one of the first times ever, everyone actually felt a little comforted to hear Bee rap, "Well said Bee. Now deals those damn cards, I wanna keep kicking Utakata ass!"

All of them started to laugh and Bee got the next round of cards out. Still though, there was something deep inside of him that just didn't feel right. It was like there was some kind of dark presence looming over them, just waiting in the shadows to strike. Eh, he'd trust Fu for now. He had no reason not to, right?

* * *

Sasuke walked into his grandfather's room with a dark scowl on his face. He scanned the room that was full of dusty, aging, antiques, and soon found his grandfather sleeping on his bed. Calling back to his buddies, Sasuke said, "Itachi, Obito, follow me in first. We'll wake him and make sure not startled him and we'll give you guys a cue to come inside. Sound good?"

They all nodded and the other to Uchiha's followed Sasuke inside. Once they got to his bed, Sasuke but his hand down on his grandfather's wrinkled shoulder and shook him, "Hey, wake the hell up old man. We've got some shit to talk about!"

Madara jolted upright and quickly scanned tried to see who was waking him. Once he saw the last of the Uchihas, he calmed down a bit, "Oh, it's all of you. Did you all meet up just to see little old me? I'm touched, really I am. Family is very important to me."

Obito wasn't about to let that slip, "Don't even try that family bullshit with us! We've got some issues we need sort out right here, right now."

Madara was a little taken back by his forwardness. He went right to went to Sasuke to try and help him, "Sasuke, what's gotten into your uncle?"

Sasuke shot him a deadly glare, "The same thing that's gotten into me you lying son of a bitch."

Madara sat up a little more in his bed, "What are you people talking about? I would never lie to you."

Itachi nearly smacked him then and there, "Never lie to us huh? Then why did you tell us that our father's death was a suicided!"

Madara's focus shifted right to Obito, "For god's sake, this again? What kind of idea's has Obito been putting into your head?"

"Obito had nothing to do with it," Sasuke snapped quickly, "I'm talking about your journal that I found on that computer at the old warehouse!"

Madara suddenly looked like a deer in headlights, "You found my journal? Dammit Sasuke, you had no right to do that!"

Itachi couldn't believe what just came out of Madara's mouth, "Seriously, are blaming this on him? You killed our fucking father!"

Obito yelled as well, "No, he killed his grandson and then lied to me about it! You fucking ass, you mother fucking ass!"

"I did what I had to do in order to save our company! Fuguka was letting his emotions get the better of him and it was about the to cost the company more money than you can imagine!" Madara was desperately hoping that Sasuke was still on his side, "Come on now Sasuke, you understand don't you? When you've got a whole family to think about, you've gotta do thing even if they are unpleasant!"

Sasuke's eye twitched, "Did you really just say killing my father was just 'unpleasant?' Honestly how messed do you have to be in the head do you have to be to act like this?"

Madara got more and more fear in his eyes and he slowly started to bring his hand near the phone on his desk. Obito quickly grabbed him by the color and pulled him away, "Oh now you don't! You aren't getting out of this one!"

Madara turned back to Sasuke, "Don't be a fool Sasuke, you need me to help you finish talking over the kings! Naruto's dead now, this is out time to strike!"

"Naruto's not dead you idiot," Sasuke said and then called, "Hey guys, why don't you come in here and finally meet face to face!"

Madara looked over to the doorway as Naruto walked in along with Kakashi and Rin. Naruto walked over and looked over the old man. He soon scoffed, "So you're the one who's come so close to taking us down? What a joke. I can't believe that this little excuse for a man ever scared me."

Madara looked him over as well, then looked at Sasuke, "So you sold me out to the enemy huh? Talk about a betrayal."

Rin had been waiting for ages to chew this guy out, "Sasuke's the traitor? After all of the shit you've done, you say that to him? I wish that I could just rip your fucking balls off I feed them to you, you heartless little prick!"

Madara was really tired of being told how horrible he was, "Are we almost done with the part where you tell me how horrible I am, or can we just skip to the part where you kill me?"

Kakashi motioned to Naruto, "Almost, but first I think that my friend here has something that he needs to say to you."

Naruto walked up to Madara and leaned right down next to his face. A somber look kept Madara on edge, "You killed a man to stop him from figuring out that you killed Fugaku. Do you remember his name?"

"...I'm not certain, but I believe that his name was Minato Namikaze," Madara said in small voice, "What does that have to do with anything?"

Naruto told him in a threatening voice, "Nice job on the name, but I don't think you realize what you did when killed him. Minato Namikaze was my father. When you killed him, your created me. I never would've started up the Nine Kings if it hadn't been for you."

Madara looked at him for a second then said, "So basically you're saying that if I hadn't killed your parents, I wouldn't be in this situation? Is that what you're trying to tell me?"

Naruto stood up straight again, "That's not what I'm telling you, it's the just the plain old truth. Everything that you've done has come full circle."

Madara just looked at them and growled, "So now what? Do you take out some gun and shoot me? Better yet, are you gonna take out a knife and slit my throat, basking in the warmth of my own blood as I die?"

Obito rolled his eyes, "Like we'd put in that much effort for a guy like you. All we're gonna do is turn off the damn power to your house and let your ass suffocate."

The possibility seemed to scare Madara even more, "No, you can't do that to me!"

Kakashi didn't understand, "Can't do that to you? You're buddy Orochimaru took an acid bath, count yourself lucky!"

Madara fired right back, "I'd prefer that for god's sake! I'm the great Madara Uchiha, I can't just die pathetically in my house knowing that my companies gonna die in vain! Sasuke, you have to promise me that you'll make sure it rises from the ashes!"

"Yeah right, I never gave a shit this damn company," Sasuke told him honestly, "I just needed to make sure that my friend was okay. I'm not going to get my family involved in the bloodbath that was the United Sharingan Defense."

Madara's mind was collapsing as he felt the world around him crumple. Everything that he had ever worked for in his life was gone. His company would be dead, his family would no longer be on top, they were going to be reduced to a fucking joke in his eyes!

He turned to Naruto and spat, "This is just what you wanted isn't it? You must be so happy to know that you've given me the worse possible way to die! A pathic shriveled up little man with nothing left to live for!"

Naruto sighed at the old man's words, "I really don't care about how you die at this point Madara. All I want is to be done with you. The power should be turned off in about a minute, so I'm just gonna leave with my friends here. You enjoy your final moments."

They gave Madara one last degrading look and then turned around to leave. The lights in the room began to flicker and so Madara just sank into his bed. He knew when his goose was cooked. His time had come, now all he could do was sit back and let his empty life end. His dream of being a titan remembered by all for his financial genius and heading up the greatest family of all time was gone. Finally the lights his room went off and his breath hitched as his machines turned off. Death was knocking at his door, and this time he had no chance but to answer.

* * *

Madara was found dead just two days later, his death rule a tragic accident. Well, that's what the papers had said, but everyone who knew the man seemed thrilled with the news. Hiashi actually went to shake Gaara's hand in person to thank him for his help. Orochimaru's body was never found and neither was his research. He was simply ruled a missing person and that was the end of that. The kings were safe, Sasuke had used everything he inherited to pay off Madara's debt and give the kings back the money they'd lost.

A week had passed since then, and everyone was pleased with what the way things were. Obito was still at least somewhat friends with Kakashi and Rin, it was looking their relationship was going to be patched up nicely. Sasuke kept eagerly awaiting the birth of his new son or daughter, beyond proud belief that he was gonna be father. Hinata and Gaara still cared for one another, which was another win for everyone. Fu gave him a very special gift for going above and beyond the call of duty, a Red Panda. Red Panda's were members of the raccoon family, which was Gaara's favorite animal. Having one of the strange looking mammals made him very happy. He named him Shukaku. The rest of the kings, well they just enjoyed relaxing all together.

Naruto and Fu were currently enjoying their favorite pass time, laying next to each other in bed with Kurama curled up by their feet. With all the stress they'd gone through, Naruto and Fu had decided that they were just gonna spend the week with one another to unwind from it all.

Fu giggled as Kurama's tail brushed her feet and she gave Naruto a little kiss on the neck, "Ha, that was just nice. God I love things going back to the way they were! Just us dodging the law and having the times of our lives."

Naruto had to agree, "Yeah, it was a lot of fun alright. A pity we can't just do it forever."

"We can sure as hell try," Fu said with a cocky grin, "Hey, did I tell you what Bee said the other day while we were playing poker?"

Naruto tried to remember, "You mean the stuff about him saying that something just didn't feel right?"

Fu was glad he remembered, "Well I was thinking about that the other day and part of me is starting to get what he means. Even though all of this is over, I just feel something really unsettling coming ahead for us. I don't know, maybe I'm just as crazy as he is."

Naruto didn't think so, "I've been feeling the exact same thing Fu. Kind of like Madara might be the start of a bigger threat coming our way."

Fu at him with big, nervous looking eyes, "Do you think that we should be worried?"

Naruto pulled her closer to him and smiled, "Why bother? We don't know for sure anything's coming yet and even if there is we don't know what it's gonna be just based on a feeling. Why don't we just enjoy ourselves while we can?"

Fu loved how smart Naruto could be at times "When you're right, you're right. Let's just enjoy ourselves. Speaking of which…"

She flipped so that was straddling on top of him with a seductive grin on her face. Naruto looked up at her perfect body and smiled, "Woman you are something else...and I just love it!"

Naruto grabbed it and the two started going at it, causing Kurama to leave the room. When these two got hot and heavy, you didn't want to be anywhere near them. It would be awhile before the fox would return.

* * *

The Kings did indeed have a dark force looming over them, in fact the dark force was one that had set in issue with Madara in action in the first place. There was a dimly lit room in the middle of Konoha, a room that contained eight different people. One was woman, but the other 7 were men. The woman had blue hair and all of the men but two had orange hair, the one lone man had read hair and the last one was bald. All of them except for the woman were heavily pierced in every section of their body. As for the woman, she had one small piercing on her chin. Each of them wore a cloak that was black with red clouds on it as well.

They were all standing in circle and the woman, who seemed to be the second in command, said to the other seven, "Madara failed miserably to take down the kings. We sold him all of the information we'd gotten on kings for practically nothing and he failed miserably to use to it."

The red haired man, who was clearly in charge, seemed like he didn't care, "We knew that was likely going to be the case. All we really planned to do was see just how many resources Naruto had. I'll admit, there really was quite a lot of them. We won't have an eyes time taking them down."

The woman agreed, "No, we won't, but in the end they will accept what coming to them."

"But of course," The red haired man said in an ominous tone "Before we're done with them, they will accept their righteous judgement…"

* * *

Now, this more a quick pole then anything, I was just wondering what some of you thought of the idea of having OC's in stories being based of from real life actors. They would look and talk like them, but of course have the personality that I give them. I hope I was not clear enough of that, PM me for more info. I hope you enjoyed in, and keep an eye out for season two in a few months!


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